


Something Worth Fighting For

by queenbanshee, xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Hopeful Ending, BAMF Chloe Sullivan, BAMF Oliver Queen, Chlollie, Dystopian Future, F/M, Hurt Chloe Sullivan, Hurt Oliver Queen, Kandorians - Freeform, Legion Ring, Not really Tess friendly, Oliver Queen is very bitter, Protective Oliver Queen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 07:55:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23967979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/queenbanshee, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: During an attempt to use the Legion ring to go back in time to save Jimmy and stop Doomsday's attack, Chloe accidentally propels herself into a very dark, dystopian future.
Relationships: Clark Kent & Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Chloe parked just outside the Planet and rushed inside. She had turned the farm upside down looking for it, but it had been nowhere to be found, there was only one other place it could be. She pushed the heavy rotating doors out of the way, glad for the first time for Doomsday's attack since both the building and the streets were completely empty still.

She wasted no time in making her way downstairs, to the basement of the Planet, her heart racing, her body still trembling slightly from everything that had just happened, but she wasn't thinking about it, she couldn't. She was going to fix it.

In the background, she heard footsteps, heels clicking against the marble floor, but she paid no attention to it. She didn't want to be seen, but again, once she found what she was looking for, it wouldn't matter. With a deep breath, she made her way to Clark's desk and started going through it, piles of papers flying everywhere and she was doing her best to ignore the red stains her hands were leaving on every white surface they touched.

"I'm sorry. I must have missed the moment where I hired _you_." Tess' voice was sharp, but there was a hint of a smirk there, too.

She took a deep, sharp breath, but didn't turn around even as her jaw clenched. She could care less about what Tess saw as long as she stayed out of her way.

"Is there a reason you're ransacking your _friend's_ desk?" She arched her eyebrows, folding her arms across her chest.

Chloe's jaw clenched and she stood up straight, "when are you going to learn to just mind you own business, Tess?" She asked tightly, still not turning around, she knew her clothes were covered in blood. Jimmy's blood.

"Well, considering I own this building and everything in it, I'd say your being here and pawing through one of my employee's personal things _is_ my business, Chloe." She walked over to her.

With her eyes narrowing, Chloe finally turned back to look at her, "Clark is missing, I'm _trying_ to help him." She said firmly and slowly, as if talking to a child.

Tess' eyes widened a little at the blood all over her. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I don't have _time_ to tell you," she told her, staring at the other woman for a moment before turning back to Clark's desk, "so I suggest you just forget you saw me."

"Not very likely." She moved closer, watching Chloe intently. "It was Doomsday wasn't it? Did Clark stop him?" There was excitement in her voice.

Chloe could tell she was standing close to her. She had no idea how Tess knew about Doomsday, but she wasn't planning on giving her anymore information than she already had.

She reached out and grabbed Chloe's arm, growing impatient. "Is Doomsday dead?"

Stilling, Chloe's eyes narrowed and she pulled her arm from Tess' grip then shoved her away. Chloe wasn't a violet person normally but she needed to get rid of Tess. "What part of I don't have time don't you get, Tess!?" She demanded, "people are dead, Clark might be too for all I know, and I don't _trust_ you, so no, I'm not going to offer you any information."

"Then you better leave before I call the police," Tess said, eyes narrowing, as well. "Because this is now an act of trespassing."

Chloe smirked softly at that, "half the city has just been destroyed by a ten foot tall monster. I don't think the cops will _care_ about trespassing." She told her, glaring at her before tugging on the locked drawer on Clark's desk, when it didn't open, she pulled back and kicked it as hard as she could, hoping to break the lock.

Glaring at her, Tess stepped forward and shoved her hard away from the desk. "Guess that answers my question about Doomsday." 

She blinked, shocked at first that the woman had pushed her, but without a second thought, Chloe's eyes narrowed and she pushed herself against Tess, throwing all her weight at her, hoping to knock her down.

It didn't knock her down, but she did stumble backwards and into another desk across the aisle. She shoved Chloe off her and threw her right fist hard at the younger woman's face.

Chloe tried to duck away but she wasn't fast enough. After everything she'd just been through, though, she had enough adrenaline piled up that she completely ignored the pain. Instead of pulling away, she rushed forward and threw her body against Tess' once more, causing her to hit her back hard against the desk, one more time.

A faint, pained sound escaped Tess, but she picked up a stapler off the desk behind her and slammed it against Chloe's shoulder.

She groaned at the sharp pain but wrapped her fingers around Tess' long hair and tugged on it as hard as she could.

Tess hit her with the stapler once more before it clattered to the floor. She raked her nails down Chloe's cheek, drawing blood and propelling the other woman back toward Clark's desk.

Chloe gasped as she hit the desk, lifting a hand to her cheek as it stung painfully, not entirely surprised to see her hands covered in even more blood. Except, when she hit the desk, the locked drawer opened and Chloe smirked. Pushing herself up on the desk, ready to kick Tess if she came closer and reaching inside of it, searching with her hand.

The red-head stomped toward her, her eyes dark and filled with rage.

Leaning back, Chloe took a deep breath and as soon as Tess was close enough, she kicked her hard in the stomach, not even looking to see if she was still coming after her as she pushed herself from the desk and went back to the drawer.

She stumbled backwards, then lurched forward once more, yanking Chloe's head back by her hair. "I've had enough of you and your little bitch cousin," Tess informed her darkly.

Groaning in pain just as she found the ring, Chloe dropped it back in the drawer then reached for Clark's name plaque and flung it over her shoulder, trying to hit Tess with it.

Tess cursed as the corner of the plaque hit her in the cheek. Gritting her teeth together, she pulled the gun from her pants and aimed it at Chloe. "Any last words?"

She glanced at the gun and pulled the ring from the drawer once more, "yeah," she told her, smirking as she turned to face her, "good luck catching me." She held her breath and started sliding the ring on her finger, feeling as something tugged at the pit of her stomach almost instantly.

An explosion rang out and Tess raised her eyebrows as the shot tore through the blond's shoulder as she vanished into the thin air, the ring she'd been holding spinning on the floor. "Well. Isn't _that_ interesting?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chloe cried in pain and held on to her shoulder even as the world spun around her, her heart racing, her head pounding, and all of the sudden, she landed with a thud. Blinking the tears from her eyes, she swallowed hard and looked around. She was standing in the middle of the street of what seemed to be Metropolis, but it was deserted. Buildings, cars, everything was in ruins, like the city had just been through a war.

She glanced down at her shoulder, blood gushing from it and suddenly felt dizzy. She needed a hospital. And then she needed to find out where the hell she'd ended up, because this wasn't the past. With a deep breath, she reluctantly let go of her shoulder and felt her hand with her now free one, she'd been hoping to put the ring in her pocket, make sure she didn't lose it, but that was when she realized she didn't _have_ the ring.

"What?" Chloe gasped, lifting her hand slowly, gritting her teeth as it caused her shoulder to burn even more, "no," she whispered, looking around and at the floor. No, she needed the ring. It was the only way she would be able to get back, go back and fix things and get away from here, whatever here was.

Several yards away, he stood staring blankly up at the bright sunlight that was shining down on the streets of Metropolis--or what was left of it. He still wasn't used to seeing the sun again after so many months of darkness, of seeing everything bathed in a bloody red glow. His chest ached dully. So much work, so many lives had been lost. _Her_ life had been lost. And he wondered if there was even a point to it at all. Sure, the Kandorians were powerless once more, but the population had been so decimated by their presence to begin with, he wasn't sure how or even if he cared to be involved in rebuilding. 

Almost immediately he closed his eyes as shame washed over him. She'd smack him upside the head if she knew he was thinking like that. Not that she could. 

She was gone. Just like everyone else.

Despite her freak out, Chloe managed to pull herself together. She wasn't far from the building Jimmy had gotten her, so she knew the hospital was at least a half hour walk away. With a deep breath, she lifted her hand to her shoulder once more, trying to add pressure to it to stop the bleeding. She felt dizzy, probably both from the trip here, whatever here was, and from the pain. Her shoulder literally felt like it was on fire, she was finding it hard to walk, all she wanted to do was sit down and curl up, but she knew that wasn't an option.

She took a deep breath, wincing as she did. Her shoulder throbbing harder and she suddenly saw spots. But that wasn't all she saw all of the sudden. A single man stood a few feet away, she couldn't make out his face or anything from this distance, but he seemed to be staring at the sun.   
Suddenly he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and he froze for a moment, then turned slowly, blinking a few times to clear his sudden onset sun-blindness. He held his breath as she came into focus, and he simply stared. _It can't be._

"Oliver?" Chloe frowned as she stepped closed, focusing on his face. He looked dirty, tired. Like he'd been through hell and back, but she was fairly sure it was him. At least she hoped it was and not that she was hallucinating because of the pain.

He sucked in a surprised breath when she said his name, which he could only hear because everything else was so _silent_. But there was no mistaking the voice. It was her. Somehow. He moved toward her quickly, blinking back the sudden moisture in his eyes. He stopped in front of her, lifting a hand to cup her cheek, then dipped his head to kiss her.

Her eyes widened and she was sure then that she _was_ hallucinating, but just as his lips brushed against her, she pulled away, the movement causing her dizziness to worsen so she swayed but managed not to fall, "what are you doing?" She asked, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

Oliver stared back at her, confusion flickering over his face. "How are you here?" he whispered, shaking his head a little.

"I don't know..." she breathed, "I was trying to go back in time, to stop Davis." Her jaw clenched, "I found the ring, but Tess shot me as I was wearing it and I ended up here somehow."

His eyebrows furrowed and he took a step toward her, his eyes widening as he noticed the blood all over her. Fear shot through him. "I need to get you back to the bunker." He leaned down and carefully picked her up in his arms, cradling her close to his chest.

Chloe blinked, surprised as he picked her up, but didn't protest, knowing they would get wherever it was a lot faster than if she'd been walking, "bunker? No hospital? Or Emil?" She asked. She had no idea what was going on, but he definitely knew her, which was a good start.

There was worry in his eyes as he glanced down at her. He wondered if she was running a fever or if she had a head injury of some kind, because she wasn't making any sense that he could understand. "It's going to be okay," he said quietly. "I've picked up a few medical skills the last few months."

She frowned a little more and stared up at him, shaking her head. That made no sense to _her_. It was obvious that this wasn't the Metropolis she was used to, but apparently, this wasn't normal Oliver either. "What happened here?"

He held her gaze for a moment, her eyes so familiar, and yet so filled with confusion right now. "Hell," he whispered, his voice shaky.

Chloe took a deep breath and stared at him for a long moment. The look in his eyes was different than she'd ever seen before. There was regret and guilt and mostly pain. "What year is this?"

Oliver diverted his gaze from her. "2010," he told her quietly, carrying her toward the underground entrance of their bunker.

She came to the future, then. She frowned and looked at him then around them, wondering where they were going but not asking him just yet, "what month?"

He paused for a moment, growing more concerned. He knocked on the bunker door loudly with his foot. If there were any Kandorians around to hear the noise, he could take them pretty easily now that they were on even-footing. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I lost track."

The door popped open and a smaller guy stared with wide-eyes at Chloe. "I thought you said--"

"She needs medical attention. I don't have time to explain," he said, avoiding the other man's gaze as he moved past him and down the steps.

Chloe stared back at him, then glanced at Oliver as he walked her down some pretty narrow stairs. "What is this place?"

"It's where we live," he told her as he carried down a dark corridor toward the room where he'd been staying, nodding at a few people who passed, but ignoring their questioning, surprised stares. He nudged the door open with his foot, then carried her inside, closing the door behind him and carefully turning on the kerosene lamp. He laid her down gently on the old mattress in the corner, holding his breath for a moment as he simply gazed at her.

She held her breath as he laid her down, wincing as she slowly pulled her hand from the wound. The place looked like a refuge, a bunker like he'd referred to and considering the lamp, he'd just turned on, she had to guess there was no electricity. Slowly, she let out her breath and forced herself to relax a little, and then she realized Oliver wasn't moving. Just... staring. So she stared back at him for a moment, "are you sure about this?"

He blinked a few times, her question pulling him out of his daze. "Sure about what?" he asked uncertainly as he moved to get the medical kit from across the room.

"That you know how to patch me up?" Chloe asked, cocking her head slightly.

A faint, small smile touched his mouth. "I'm sure," he said softly, moving back to her side once more and sitting down on the edge of the mattress. He set the things beside her on the floor, reaching for the scissors. "Stay still." He began to cut off the sleeve of her shirt that was covering the wound in her shoulder.

She held her breath and remained as still as she could manage, keeping her eyes on him as he carefully cut through her shirt. She had hundreds of questions, but she wasn't sure where to begin.

He carefully removed the sleeve, his fingers just barely brushing against her skin. He picked up the small penlight and studied the wound. "Looks like it was a clean shot," he said softly, meeting her gaze for a moment before reaching for the bottle of alcohol. "That's lucky."

She almost snorted at that and gave him a look at that. "Yeah, incredibly lucky. I guess at least she's a bad shot, pretty sure she was aiming for my head."

Oliver glanced at her briefly. "Lucky in the sense that I don't have to dig a bullet out of your shoulder with no anesthetic."

Chloe's eyes widened at that and she stared at him then took a deep breath, "okay. What happened here? I mean, it's a year into the future or so, but what is going on?"  
"This is going to sting," he told her, showing her the bottle of alcohol, avoiding her gaze once more.

She didn't miss his lack of answer, but at the thought of alcohol touching her shoulder, her stomach turned and she closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, gasping in pain as her back arched once he started to clean the wound.

Oliver winced as well, his stomach tightening. "Sorry. I'm sorry," he whispered. "We have to clean it or it'll get infected and we're low on antibiotics, too."

"I know," she muttered tightly, not opening her eyes as she took a deep breath, "just get it over with."

Nodding, he finished cleaning the wound as quickly but thoroughly as he could, then gently placing gauze over it and wrapping bandages over the gauze. "I've got some advil," he offered, his voice quiet.

She had relaxed a little by the time he finished, mostly because her body was now exhausted from... everything. But she didn't want to fall asleep just yet. She needed some answers first, "tell me what's going on."

His gaze flickered to her face and he held his breath for a moment, then exhaled slowly. "Zod," he said quietly.

"Zod?" She frowned, shifting to sit up, "the evil kryptonian dictator? But Clark got rid of him..."

His jaw tensed at the mention of Clark. "You should rest," he said, his voice softer than the look in his eyes. He rose to his feet slowly. "I won't be far."

Chloe sighed deeply, "we _will_ talk when I wake up," she told him.

The trace of a smile touched his mouth. "Rest," he murmured once more, heading for the door.

She watched him for a moment, "I'll take that advil before you leave," she told him quietly, pursing her lips together.

He paused, turning his head to look at her once more. "You bet." He moved over to the opposite corner, kneeling down on the floor and digging through a dark knapsack. He pulled out the small bottle and then rose to his feet, moving over to her again. "Here." He held the bottle out to her. "I'll go get you some water."

Chloe nodded a little, still sitting on the bed rather than laying on it as she took the bottle, "thank you." She told him quietly.

Oliver's gaze locked on her face as their fingers brushed and he held his breath for a moment, then nodded as he pulled away. "Welcome. Be right back."

She sighed deeply once he left and took a couple of pills dry. She still wanted the water but she didn't want to wait. She really needed to figure out where she was or what was going and she needed to find a way back and save Jimmy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe gasped and pushed herself up, sucking a sharp breath as her arm burned at the sudden movement, her eyes tearing up as she held onto her shoulder instinctively and looked around, not recognizing the place right away and then she remembered where she was. And remembered that the whole thing with Davis and Jimmy _hadn't_ been a nightmare.

She was hot. Really hot and as she pushed herself to the edge of the bed and was about to put her feet on the floor, she felt herself stepping on something. She gasped again and stilled, fear running through her as she looked down, "Oliver?"

He winced a little, startled awake from yet another nightmare and looking up, blinking a few times. "You're really here," he murmured.

Rubbing her hand over her face, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, "what are you doing there?"

"Sleeping," he answered, groaning as he stretched a little. "How are you feeling?"

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?" Certainly that wasn't the only mattress in the place.

He hesitated a moment, then slowly rose to his feet. "I wanted to be close in case you needed anything."

"You didn't have to do that," she told him, looking up at him as she stood up too.

"Easy," he whispered, instantly reaching out and placing a hand on her hip. "You shouldn't be up yet."

Chloe glanced down at his hand then looked up at him again. She had no idea what to make of his actions, his closeness and the constant worry in his eyes. She and Oliver had worked okay together, until Davis anyway. And well the thing with Lex... And she was fairly certain he would blame her for everything when she got back, which she couldn't blame him for. And she had no doubt things between them couldn't have changed that much in a year.

"Seriously. You lost a lot of blood, Chloe. Please lie back down. If you're hungry, I'll go find something for you to eat." He gazed at her, his dark eyes tired.

She sighed and reluctantly sat down, but kept her eyes on him, "I don't want any food," she told him, "I want answers."

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face and glanced toward the door. "All right."

"Do you..." she paused, rewording the question, "was Davis around here too?"

He raised his eyebrows a little at that. "Davis Bloome?" He cocked his head to the side.

Chloe held her breath at that and nodded slightly, watching him closely. If he was from the future, he would have to know everything the other Oliver knew.

"Yeah, but not for a long time." He watched her just as closely.

She pursed her lips together and looked down, her stomach tight with guilt, "did he kill Jimmy?"

Oliver held his breath. "He did. _You_ didn't." His voice was quiet. Firm.

Chloe sighed softly but didn't say anything about that, "and Clark took care of Doomsday?" She asked, "did he make it?"

He scowled. "He's just fine."

She frowned a little at his tone but sighed in relief nonetheless. She was in the future then and not in some alternate reality. At least from what she'd learned so far. "That's where I'm coming from," she explained, "after Davis killed Jimmy, I went to the farm to try and find the ring, when I couldn't find it, I went to look at the Planet and found it at his desk, where I ran into Tess. I was supposed to go to the past, though not the future."

His expression shifted to one of confusion. "The ring?" he asked, shaking his head a little.

"The ring the Legion, a team kind of like ours except from the future, gave Clark a few months ago. It lets you time travel. I was hoping to go back in time and stop Davis before... any of this happened, but I ended up here instead," her voice grew quieter and she took a deep breath, "and I didn't have the ring in my hand when I got here."

Oliver studied her for a moment, then shook his head a little. "Then I hate to tell you this, Chloe, but...you're stuck here."

"No," she breathed, shaking her head a little, "there might be a ring here too. I can use it to get back."

"Finding a ring in what's left of this city or any other is like searching for a needle in a haystack," he said quietly.

"Unless Clark kept it at the Planet all this time," she told him, taking a deep breath, "I have to save Jimmy."

"Chloe." He shook his head. "The Planet is _gone_."

Her eyes widened at him and her stomach turned, "the whole building?" She gasped, staring up at him.

"Apparently that's what several hundred pissed off Kandorians are capable of at full power."

Chloe took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, "what are Kandorians?"

"Basically people from a rebel city on Krypton," he told her quietly.

"Zod and Clark aren't the only Kryptonians here?" She gasped, her eyes widening.

Oliver looked away. "No. They're not."

Blinking, she looked down, that explained a lot. Why humans were living underground like cockroaches, why the entire city was in ruins. Zod had always wanted to take over Earth and Dark Thursday has been just Brainiac and Zod in a vessel's body, if he had somehow managed to come back with an army... it _would_ be hell on Earth. "How many?"

"Hundreds," he answered, shutting his eyes for a moment. "I don't know exactly."

"How long have they been here?" She asked, turning to look at him.

"A little over a year?" He scratched the back of his neck. "No. Wait, it was longer. I think."

Chloe took a deep breath and sat up, "how do we stop them?" She asked him, her stomach tightening. If she couldn't go back and fix things with Davis and Jimmy, maybe she could make things right here at least.

He offered her a faint, pained smile. "They've already been stopped. Their powers are gone. They're just as human as we are now."

"Oh," she blinked a little and nodded, looking at him for a moment, "then why are you still living here?"

"The city's still a wreck. If I had to venture a guess, the entire planet is pretty much a wreck. We're set up down here and it's been our safety zone for a long time now."

She took a deep breath and nodded slightly. She thought Doomsday was bad but this was awful, "where are the others?"

"Others?" he echoed uncertainly.

"Lois, Clark, the rest of the team, Emil..." she said quietly, keeping her eyes on him.

"Lois has been missing for months," he said, avoiding her gaze. "The team is gone."

Her chest tightened and she swallowed hard, "gone?"

"Dead," he said quietly, his voice wavering slightly.

Her eyes teared up at that and she lowered her head, then paused. "Wait," she said quietly, lifting her head, "you said _we_ lived here, does that mean that... I'm gone too?"

He flinched, rubbing a hand over his face. "I should get you something to eat."

Chloe winced at that and she looked down. She'd been completely heart broken and crazy, trying to right the death of one person she'd lost and Oliver had lost _everyone_ , at least everyone they'd known in common and he was still going. "I'm so sorry, Oliver."

"It's not your fault," he said quietly.

"I'm still sorry you lost so much," she told him, turning to look at him once more.

He leaned against the wall for a moment, nodding. "Yeah. Me too," he admitted.

Chloe stood up slowly, hoping her head wouldn't spin as much and when it worked, she took a step toward him, "is there anything I can do?"

"No," he said very quietly, gazing at her. "But it'd make me feel better if you'd stay in bed for a few days."

"A few days?" She frowned, watching him closely. Sure she was sore from the fight with Tess and her arm was still hurting but she didn't want to stop right now. Stopping meant thinking and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"You were shot and I'm not a doctor." He bit his cheek, studying her.

"I just don't want to be idle right now," she admitted. "I'll stop if I feel bad?"

"There's nothing to be done right now," he told her. Which was pretty far from the truth. But he wasn't ready to contemplate rebuilding. Not yet.

"There has to be something, Oliver," she pushed, looking up at him, "you look exhausted, what have you been doing?"

"Grieving," he answered tiredly.

Her chest clenched at that and she looked at him, wishing she could comfort him somehow but she wasn't sure if he would accept comfort from her. "Maybe it would help if you told me about it?"

"Maybe." He didn't sound convinced.

"Why don't you try to get some rest and I'll listen to you when you wake up?" She suggested, "but you should take the bed this time."

"We can share," he said quietly.

Chloe pursed her lips together and nodded, maybe being around a version of her, a familiar face would help him. She didn't want to think about why he'd tried to kiss her when he'd first seen her, she didn't want to assume anything and he obviously wasn't ready to talk about it, so she took a deep breath and nodded a little. "Okay," she agreed quietly. She wanted more of the advil he'd given her earlier but she didn't know how much medicine they had left at this point so she decided not to ask for it, or for a change of clothes since hers were still covered in blood because she wasn't sure mentioning her other self was the best idea.

Oliver was silent for a moment. "You should take more advil," he said, reaching down and picking up the bottle. "Do you want some more water?"

She took a deep breath and looked up at him, "I don't want to use up your stash of it," she told him sincerely.

"You were shot," he said softly, shifting closer to her. "And now that their powers are gone, I can start making plans to take teams out to look for more supplies."

With a deep breath, she watched him for a moment, "will you let me help you with that once I get better?"

"Don't you want to focus on trying to find a way back?" he asked, pressing the bottle into her hand.

"I can do both," she told him, taking just one pill this time and picking up the water bottle he'd brought her earlier then sipping on it.

"We'll figure something out." He tried to smile but didn't quite manage it.

With a deep breath, she kept her eyes on him for a long moment, wishing there was something else she could do for him. But maybe, if he got rest on a proper bed, or well, on a softer one than the floor at least, he would feel slightly better. Or at least less alone.

"Okay," she told him, keeping her eyes on him for a moment before turning around and sitting back down on the bed but scooting close to the opposite edge to make room for him.

Oliver watched her for a moment, then sat down on the edge of the bed, kicking his boots off and slowly lying down beside her. "If you're uncomfortable, the floor's really not that bad."

"I'm fine," she assured him, turning her head to look at him even as she laid on her back, "there is plenty of room and I really would prefer if you slept here rather than on the floor."

He shifted onto his side so he was facing her. "Do you need anything?" he asked.

Chloe watched him for a long moment but didn't turn, just watched him, "no, thank you." 

"I'm sorry things here aren't more comfortable," he murmured, letting his eyes drift shut.

"Don't be," she told him quietly, "I'm just glad I found you when I did. Or you found me, I guess." 

His chest tightened at that. "I'll keep you safe this time," he whispered.

Her own chest tightened at his words and she watched him closely, his words sounded incredibly regretful, "I have no doubt you did everything you could last time too."  
But Oliver didn't answer. 

He'd already fallen asleep.

* * * 

_He stretched his arm back, pulling the wire on his bow with him, his jaw tight with tension as he stared up at the Kandorians that were descending upon him rapidly. He let an arrow fly, watching as one of them fell from the sky and hit the ground as the sun's hue faded from red, turning yellow once more. At that moment, someone grabbed him and he was nearly a mile from where he'd been standing. Startled, he turned, ready to throw a useless punch, but saw Clark there. "What are you_ doing?" _he demanded, glaring at him._

_"Saving your life," he responded, shaking his head._

_"Who asked you to do that?" Oliver shoved him away. "It was my time!"_

_"No, it wasn't. Just because she's gone--"_

_"Shut up!" he ordered, his voice rising. "You don't know anything about it!" He turned away from the other man, stalking away and then pausing in his tracks when he spotted her a few feet away. But it couldn't be. Could it?_

_Chloe stood there, staring at him as a smirk slowly appeared on her lips as she slid her gun onto the side of her belt and nodded slightly at him._

_He blinked a few times, taking in the familiar smirk, the familiar actions. "Chloe?" he whispered, taking a step toward her._

_She took a couple of steps toward him and nodded, "we won," she grinned softly, "they are gone."_

_"But Alia..." he whispered, shaking his head._

_"Wasn't fast enough," she assured him, lifting her hand to cup his cheek._

_"Really?" He leaned into her touch, lifting a hand to her cheek as well._

_Chloe just held his gaze and smiled._

_"Thank God," he whispered, dipping his head and kissing her softly on the mouth, sliding his other arm around her waist and pulling her closer._

_She returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer._

* * *

Shifting in his sleep, Oliver's arm snaked around her waist, burying his face in her hair and the back of her neck.

Chloe stirred in her sleep slightly and took a deep breath, opening her eyes slowly. Her first thought was that it was Jimmy, then she tensed when she thought it might be Davis, but just as she shifted, her arm started to burn again and she remembered where she was, and while she was glad it _wasn't_ Davis, she had no idea how to react to Oliver spooning her.

"Thought I lost you," he whispered, pressing a tender kiss to her neck.

She shivered, taking a deep breath. That definitely answered the question of what kind of relationship they had. Chloe pulled away slightly. Not wanting to wake him up but she really didn't need her body responding to his nearness the way it was.

Her movement stirred him out of his slumber and his eyebrows furrowed a little. "Sorry," he whispered, lifting his head a little. "Did I wake you again?" It seemed like he was always waking her up.

"No," she lied, pulling away from him more and turning to lay on her back to put as much space between his mouth and neck as she could, "no, I was half awake already."

"Oh," he murmured, a soft smile on his face. He laid his head down on the pillow. He exhaled slowly. "I had a bad dream," he murmured.

Chloe rubbed a hand over her neck, trying to shake off the feeling of his lips against it and shifted slightly away from him, "what did you dream about?"

"Alia," he whispered, his chest tightening. "I thought..."

She frowned slightly, her own chest tightening too. Somehow she didn't think he was aware that she _wasn't_ his Chloe. "Thought what?"

He paused for a moment, then opened his eyes, a confused expression on his face. It took him a moment, but awareness slowly began to dawn on him. Her hair was a little shorter, her shoulder wrapped from the bullet wound. Right. It hadn't just been a dream. "Oh."

Chloe watched him go from peaceful to troubled to sad again and she wished she could do something to help him, "are you okay?"

Oliver shut his eyes for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right." It wasn't like he had another choice. He sat up slowly, rubbing his hands over his face. "Sorry I woke you."

"You didn't," she lied again, pushing herself up too on her good arm.

He nodded a little, his back to her. "I should get you something to eat."

"Is there anywhere where I can shower?" She asked, eyes on the back of his head. She had no doubt he needed some distance from her, all things considered, he was dealing with having another version of the person he was involved with around pretty well. But she had to wonder if it was just him, making an effort not to make her uncomfortable.

"No running water," he said softly, glancing at her over his shoulder. "But we do have a place for bathing. Give me a few minutes and I'll take you there." He rose to his feet.

"Okay," she told him, shifting to the edge of the bed.

Oliver nodded a little and headed out the door, returning a few moments later with a fresh bottle of water and a container of canned meat. "Not exactly the tastiest meal, but you haven't eaten since you've been here."

Chloe looked at the can and pursed her lips together, nodding slightly and hoping she could stomach it. It was even worse than her usual meals but she guessed they didn't have much of a choice at this point, "thank you."

"I know it's not your favorite," he said quietly. "We'll be looking for more food soon. Hopefully something better."

"If I hadn't run into you when I did, I have no idea what would have happened, so I'll take whatever you have," she told him sincerely. She _was_ hungry, she probably hadn't eaten anything in almost two days at this point, considering the whole thing with Doomsday and the team then Davis and Jimmy, followed by Tess and then ending up here. She really was in no position to be picky.

"I wish I had some ice for your cheek," he said, hesitantly tucking a finger under her chin and lifting her head just a little. "Was this from Tess, too?"

She made a face at that and nodded, "I had forgotten about it," she admitted, "is it really bad?"

"Just bruised," he assured her. "But you won't have to worry about Tess while you're here." His chest tightened a little.

"Is she... gone too?" She asked quietly, frowning a little.

Oliver nodded slightly, falling silent.

Chloe frowned a little, wondering if _anyone_ that they knew had made it. She knew he had never really answered her about Clark and as far as he knew, Lois was still out there somewhere, but she didn't want to push him on those yet. She did, however, want to get him talking. "What happened to her?"

"She put her faith in the Kandorians," he told her. "She was on their side. It was her science background that enabled her to help them gain their abilities here on earth." He paused, his jaw tightening just a little. "She was the catalyst for everything that happened."

She stared at him, her eyes widening, "this... the whole war. It all happened because of _Tess_?"

"Essentially, yes." He shifted his gaze away from her, exhaling slowly.

"Well I don't feel so bad for hating her, then," Chloe said tightly. She tried not to hate people but when this one woman was responsible for the death of everyone they knew, she felt within her rights to hate her.

"It was also partially my fault." His voice dropped.

"Your fault?" She echoed, frowning at him. 

"Because I was too caught up in my own pity party to pay attention to what Tess was doing at LuthorCorp," he said, not looking at her.

"Oliver," Chloe rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly, "I sincerely doubt that because _you_ weren't paying attention to her, she decided to destroy the entire planet." 

"It's complicated, Chloe," he told her, turning toward the door. "It doesn't really matter now." He rubbed a hand over his face. "I'll give you time to eat and then I'll be back to take you out."

"Where are you going?" She asked, frowning as she watched him.

"I just need to check on the rest of the people here," he assured her. "I won't be far."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, "okay," she agreed, not that she had much of a choice, "I'll be here."

Nodding a little, he headed out the door silently.


	4. Chapter 4

Oliver pushed on the manhole that covered the exit and carefully slid it aside before climbing back down the ladder to where Chloe stood. "You're not going to be able to climb with your shoulder." He turned so he was facing her, kneeling down. "So put your good arm around my neck and hold on. We'll piggyback you out of here." 

She stared up at the ladder and considered him for a moment. No wonder they all looked dirty, sounded like a lot of work just for a shower. "Are you sure? I can try."

"I don't want you to hurt yourself," he said quietly.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded slightly, "okay, but I don't want you to hurt yourself either."

A faint smile touched his mouth at that. "I may have lost some weight, but what I've got is all muscle. And you're still tiny. I'll be fine."

"I'm not tiny..." she protested, arching her eyebrows at him.

"Compared to me you are," he pointed out, the barest hint of amusement in his eyes.

She gave him a look then shrugged, "it's not my fault I'm surrounded by giants."

He grinned involuntarily. "It wasn't an insult."

"Uh huh, just means I can't do all the things you guys can because I'm 'tiny'," she told him, mostly teasing as she smiled a little. At least he was grinning.

"It also means you're easier to carry when necessary. Like now." He shifted closer to her. "Trust me, I know there's not much you're incapable of, tiny or not."

Chloe held his gaze for a moment then nodded a little, "I guess I can play damsel in distress for a few seconds."

"You're no damsel," he murmured, resisting the urge to reach out and cup her cheek in his hand. Licking his lips, he turned around once more. "Come on. Climb aboard the Green Arrow express."

She took a deep breath and wrapped her good arm around his shoulder, tiptoeing as she tried to climb on his back without jumping. This was awkward enough as it was.

"Ow!" he said loudly.

Chloe stilled and pulled away from him instantly, her eyes widening, "I'm sorry! What did I do?"

He chuckled involuntarily. "I'm kidding. Only kidding," he assured her.

She let out a breath and smacked his shoulder even as she smiled. "Not funny."

He leaned back against the cold brick wall, still grinning. "It was a little funny," he teased, turning around once more.

"If you say so, but I'd stick to your day job if I were you." She smirked, taking a step back before walking over to him and jumping on his back this time.

Oliver chuckled again. "Yeah, yeah. Everyone's a critic." He started to climb up the ladder, and a moment later he had them in the middle of a small park. "Here we are."

Chloe frowned, looking around the park before slowly sliding down from his back, "where are we?" It looked familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"Colocia Park," he told her, glancing around warily to make sure no one else was nearby.

"Is it still dangerous?" She asked, not missing the fact that he tensed up instantly.

"It'll be dangerous until they're all dead," he answered, scanning the burned out tree line and not seeing anyone.

She took a deep breath and nodded a little but kept close to him even as she looked around too, "I guess at least they are probably not very skilled in hand to hand."

Oliver nodded his agreement, turning toward her once more. "I think we're all right," he told her, reaching down and taking her hand without thinking about it, leading her a little ways away toward a fire hydrant. "It's going to be cold. Sorry about that."

Chloe stared at the fire hydrant and nodded a little, "I expected as much, but I guess it's better than being dirty." She was very much aware of the fact that he was holding her hand but decided not to point it out. At least it gave him some comfort, maybe. 

He drew in a breath and let go of her hand a moment later, moving forward and unscrewing the hydrant's cap. "You might change your mind after this." He smiled faintly as cold water began to spray up into the air. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes and letting the water rain down on him.

She just watched him for a moment then stepped forward hesitantly, shivering and being careful with her shoulder since she guessed it would hurt a lot, "it's not... too bad."

He opened his eyes and looked over at her, not surprised. If there was one thing Chloe'd never done regularly, it was complain. He scrubbed his hands over his face, letting the water wash away the dirt from the past few days, then exhaling slowly. "I'll give you some time," he told her, moving away from the hydrant and turning his back so she could have some privacy.

Chloe took a deep breath and watched him for a moment then stepped closer to the water. She was already soaked but she had blood stains all over her body and what was left of her shirt. She pulled it up over her stomach and washed it as well as she could, her chest tightening as she remembered far too vividly having Jimmy's lifeless body laying on her lap. She couldn't help but wonder if someone had found him yet.

Confident that they were the only two people close by, Oliver sat down on the ground, closing his eyes and tilting his face up toward the sun.

She did her best to clean her arm around the wound and rub away the blood from her jeans since she didn't really have many options as far as clothes went. She was glad she was at least wearing comfortable boots. After running her fingers through her hair then washing her face. Just as she opened her eyes, she saw Oliver.

He looked almost relaxed, sitting on the overgrown grass, soaking wet still, just feeling the sun on his skin. Or so she assumed what he was doing. She couldn't help but wonder when was the last time he'd done that. 

As if sensing her gaze, he shifted a little on the grass. "You all right?" He didn't turn around.

"Yeah," she breathed, looking down at herself and checking on her chest and stomach, making sure she was clean, "I think I'm done, if you want to have some time here."

Oliver shook his head a little, pushing himself to his feet slowly and turning to face her. "No, I'm good." He moved toward her once more. "Sure you're done?"

"I'm done," she told him, nodding a little. She was completely soaked and she couldn't be sure her shirt wasn't transparent but at least, there wasn't as much blood.

He had the decency not to look even as he knelt down in front of the hydrant and twisting the valve shut. Rising to his feet, he turned his back toward her. "We get down the same way," he explained.

Chloe nodded slightly and took a deep breath, climbing on his back once more, without arguments this time. "Do you think there are any clothes I can take?" She wasn't sure if she was asking for too much but her current shirt was ripped in more than one place.

He winced at that. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. I'll get you something else when we get back," he promised, climbing down the ladder and waiting for her to slide down before he moved back up and put the manhole cover back in place. 

"Thank you," she told him, tugging on the shirt, pulling it away from her body a little, hoping it would dry.

"I'd offer you mine, but it's wet, too," he said quietly, diverting his gaze.

"If there aren't extra ones, I'll be fine." She told him, arching her eyebrows at his reaction.

"There are," he said softly. "Her things...your things technically...they're back in the room." He swallowed hard as he started to walk, leading her in the direction of the main part of the bunker.

Her chest tightened a little at that, "if it will make you uncomfortable, Oliver, I'll be fine." She said quietly, following him down the hallway.

He paused, then turned to face her. "There's no reason you should have to wear bloody, torn clothes, Chloe. Not when there are clean ones available."

She held his gaze and nodded a little, searching his face, "I just don't want to make it harder on you than it already is."

"I know," he said quietly. "You're not."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, "you two were really close, weren't you?"

"We were a team." His voice grew even more quiet.

She watched him for a moment as they started walking toward the bedroom once more, "how did it happen?"

At that, he flinched, shaking his head. "I can't," he whispered. "Not yet."

Chloe frowned a little then shook her head, "no, Oliver. I didn't mean about what happened to her. I was asking about how you two got close." She knew he was still in a lot of pain from losing the other version of her, the last thing she wanted was to make him relive it. 

He relaxed a little at that, drawing in a breath as he led her back through the tunnels and finally into the bedroom, moving to the corner and pulling out a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans. He laid them on the bed, then moved away, back toward the door, closing it but keeping his back to her so that she could change. "She saved my life," he said quietly. "The Kandorians had the basement of the Daily Planet full of people being kept there in chains."

She took a deep breath and watched him for a moment, picking up the t-shirt and sliding it on quickly after getting rid of her soaked one. "And you were trapped?" She asked quietly, surprised that anyone would have been able to take Oliver like that, but she guessed if there were hundreds of super-powered aliens, he didn't stand much of a chance.

"Yeah. I was," he murmured.

_"What the hell is going on?" he asked as one of the men shoved him off the last step into the Planet's basement._

_"Shut up, you filthy human," he answered, kicking him down toward the floor for good measure._

_A string of curses escaped him as he hit the floor hard and he glared up at the man, his jaw tight. He reached back and picked up a tape dispenser, hurling it hard at the man's head. His eyes widened in surprise as the man reached out, catching it effortlessly, smirking. "What the hell are you?"_

_"The last thing you'll ever see." He told him, his eyes turning red as he prepared to set him on fire._

_A moment later, however, his knees gave under him and he held onto his stomach as he curled up on the floor. The other three guards followed him a few seconds later._

_Oliver's eyebrows furrowed a little as he stared at the glowing green knife in the man's back, then slowly lifted his gaze to see a few new arrivals standing there, all dressed in black. He rose to his feet, eying them warily and then glancing around at the rest of the people that had been ushered down the steps. "Who are you?" he asked, shaking his head a little._

_"Everyone out!" A masked woman yelled, even as she kept her eyes on Oliver. "We'll take you to a shelter, just follow my men."_

_His eyes widened at the familiar voice. "Chloe?" he whispered, stunned._

_She took a deep breath and pulled on the mask, "you too, Oliver, we don't have time." She turned to one of the men dressed in black, "I'll take the back."_

_Oliver stared at her for a few seconds, then moved to her side. "_ We _will," he told her softly. "I don't suppose you have anymore of those nifty little green knives, do you?" He raised his eyebrows a little._

_Chloe eyed him for a moment then pulled a knife from her belt and handed it to him before picking up a flashlight and looking around the basement to make sure there wasn't anyone left._

_He looked around, too, but saw no one else. "What's going on?" he asked, his voice low as they headed up the stairs side-by-side._

_"Kandorians," she told him, keeping her voice low too as she glanced over her shoulder, "the red sun has given them their powers."_

_"And you can kill them with Kryptonite?" His voice was almost inaudible as he glanced at her sideways, tightening his hold on the blade._

_"Not that I know of," she breathed, jaw tight, "but they won't be going anywhere until someone removes the blades from them."_

_"Where the hell is Clark?" he whispered, growing more confused._

_Her jaw clenched at that, "gone."_

_"Gone as in..." His voice trailed off._

_"He_ left _. Lois was missing, he didn't feel like sticking around." Chloe told him in a firm whisper._

_His chest tightened at that and he fell silent, following the group out the door of the Planet._

Chloe blinked a couple of times, she was now wearing clean and dry clothes, which were infinitely more comfortable than what she'd been wearing before, even the jeans fit her perfectly. She guessed the other version of her hadn't exactly had time to go shopping since this whole thing started. "So Clark just... left? He hasn't been around?" She asked, it wasn't like Clark to do that, but Oliver seemed pretty bitter when he was talking about the other man.

Oliver blinked a few times as she finally spoke up, and he turned to face her, giving a short nod. "He took off trying to find Lois. But somewhere along the way he got captured. Zod was holding him in his own barn, along with quite a few other people."

"How was he captured?" She asked quietly, shaking her head, "couldn't he break out?"

He exhaled, shaking his head, as well. "He lost his powers when Tess and Zod turned the sun red."

"...Oh." That made sense, considering Clark's powers supposedly came from Earth's yellow sun. "And how did I... well, Chloe ended up with a whole army?"

A faint, wistful smile touched his mouth. "It was either fight or give in. Considering how many of us she rescued, it wasn't that surprising that we all went with the fight option."

Chloe nodded a little, taking a deep breath, "I'm glad she got there in time to help you. I'm sure having you around helped her a lot." Especially with Lois and Clark both being gone.

"Maybe," he murmured. He was quiet for a moment. "I should start trying to pull a team together to go get supplies."

"Definitely," she corrected him, "I know myself." She pointed out, offering her a small smile. "Are you sure you need to go already? Maybe I can come with you in a couple of days."

"You think your arm's going to be healed enough for that?" he asked uncertainly.

"I can try," she told him, "although I'm probably not going to be nearly as good as you said she was as far as aiming goes."

"Now that we're all on even footing again, that shouldn't be as much of an issue." He gazed at her. "But I don't know how far we'll end up traveling and I don't want to make your injury worse."

"I assume you guys have already gone through all of the closest ones?" She asked, arching her eyebrows a little.

He gave a short nod. "Yeah. And since we'll be traveling by foot..."

Chloe frowned a little, "are there no cars or no gas?" She asked.

"One of the first things the Kandorians did was destroy as many vehicles as they could," he told her. "I guess they didn't want to risk any humans possibly somehow escaping. Although I think it has more to do with crushing people's spirits a little more."

She sighed softly a little and nodded. She hated thinking of being left behind and sitting idly around and if she was in pain, she knew she could suck it up, "I want to help."

His gaze softened at her earnest words. He didn't like the idea of _leaving_ her behind. "All right."

Chloe smiled softly at that and nodded, watching him closely, "thank you."

"It's not a problem," he said softly, exhaling. "Are the clothes more comfortable?"

"Yeah, it's a lot better," she said sincerely, "thank you."

"You're welcome." He gazed at her, holding his breath for a moment. "Help yourself to anything around here that you might need. Okay?"

She took a deep breath and nodded slightly, "thank you." She watched him for a moment, "I assume that's where the two of you stayed?"

"Yeah." His voice was soft. "You're welcome to it. I'll move my things."

"No, Oliver," she frowned, shaking her head. "I'm not kicking you out of your own room, if it makes you uncomfortable, I can stay somewhere else."

"I'm not." He paused. "Uncomfortable. I just don't want you to be."

Chloe took a deep breath and smiled a little, "if you're sure, I don't have a problem with it." She _was_ a little uncomfortable, but she didn't want to leave him alone while she was there, she wanted to help him heal.

He searched her eyes, still looking uncertain. "Chloe...I know that you and I aren't...close where you come from." He looked down.

"We're not," she agreed then smiled slightly, "but I'm glad at least a version of you doesn't hate me."

He looked up once more, confusion in his face. "Hate you?" he echoed, shaking his head a little.

"Yeah..." she breathed and looked down then back at him, "with the whole... Davis thing. I should have listened to you."

Oliver blinked a few times, taking a step toward her without really thinking about it. "Chloe, we all screwed up on that. It wasn't just you. And I never blamed you."

She cocked her head a little, surprised then shook her head, "we didn't exactly part on the best terms," she pursed her lips together, "and with everything Davis did, even after they were separated..."

"I know, Chloe. I lived it, too," he said softly.

"How did we work things out?" She asked quietly, watching him closely.

"I was never angry with you. At least not after the argument we had at the Talon. I never blamed you for what happened. There wasn't really anything to work out," he whispered.

"Did we see each other?" She asked quietly, "between Doomsday and... the Kandorians at the Planet?"

"Only once," he said, guilt in his expression.

"What happened?" She frowned a little, not liking his expression.

"The funeral," Oliver told her quietly.

"The..." she began then stopped, looking down, suddenly feeling her stomach turn. "Oh." Jimmy's funeral, which she was probably going to miss now.

He winced at the look on her face. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Chloe took a deep breath and shook her head, pulling herself together, "no, don't be..."

He moved closer to her, hesitant, opening his arms silently.

She blinked a couple of times in surprise, holding her breath then hesitating too before stepping into his arms and wrapping her good arm around him. They had never hugged before and she felt like maybe she needed it as much as she thought he did.

He wrapped his arms around her, careful not to touch her injured shoulder in any way, or put any pressure on it. "Let it out," he whispered.

Her eyes felt warm with tears almost instantly at his words and she tightened her arm around him, "you too," she whispered, her cheek pressed against his chest.

Oliver swallowed hard at that, shutting his eyes and gently rubbing her back. He hadn't been there for her the last time. He wasn't going to make the same stupid mistakes twice.

She sniffed quietly, her fingers wrapping around his t-shirt unconsciously. She hadn't really stopped since Davis murdered Jimmy, hadn't had time to mourn him and if she were to guess, Oliver hadn't done much of it either.

"I can listen," he whispered, moving a hand to the back of her head.

Chloe took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, wanting to curl into him, she had no idea that hugging Oliver would feel so comforting and safe. "I just... I wish I could have saved him," she murmured.

"I know," he whispered, his chest tightening painfully.

She sighed deeply, turning her head and resting her forehead against his chest instead.

He rested his chin atop her head, closing his eyes once more. "Whatever you need, I'm here," he whispered.

"I want to be here for you too," she said quietly, tightening her arm around him, "whenever you're ready."

"Thank you," he said just as quietly.

Chloe nodded a little, closing her eyes too and just leaning against him, listening to his heartbeat as she slowly calmed down. Even if she wasn't going to be able to get rid of the guilt and pain, it was comforting to have him there.


	5. Chapter 5

Oliver wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up, but considering the relative silence all around, he figured it was early. He glanced down to where Chloe lay beside him, still asleep, curled up and facing toward him, and he had to resist the urge to lean down and press a soft kiss to her forehead. Instead, he climbed off the bed quietly, turning back and gently pulling the covers up to her chin and moving away, rubbing the back of his neck and letting out a breath. He moved over to the corner, reaching down and picking up a clean shirt, shucking off the one he'd been wearing for the last couple of days.

Chloe felt the bed moving and slowly opened her eyes. She was about to stretch but stopped herself. After a few days of accidentally stretching her shoulder and being in massive pain, she had finally learned. Instinctively, however, she still looked around, trying to find a clock but her eyes fell on Oliver instead.

His bare back was turned to her and she blinked a couple of times before her eyes could really focus. And when they did, they widened. There was a huge scar that took most of his back and she recognized the symbol instantly. It was the symbol for Zod's house and it was burned all over Metropolis, something she'd found out during the two supply runs that she went with them so far.

"Oliver?" She gasped, pushing herself up.

"What?" He turned, his expression full of worry as he looked back at her. "Are you all right? Are you in pain?" He moved over to the bed once more.

She shook her head a little, "your back." She cleared her throat, looking up at him just as worriedly, "what happened?"

It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. "Oh. _That._ " He drew in a breath, tugging the shirt on over his head.

"Who did that to you?" She asked, standing up and frowning worriedly.

"That would be one General Zod himself."

"Why?" She shook her head slightly, suddenly wishing she could take a better look at it, to make sure it was healed and he wasn't in pain, "what happened?"

Oliver gazed at her for a moment. "I tried to kill him." His voice grew quiet.

"Oliver... that's crazy." She murmured.

"He killed Bart," he said softly, dropping his gaze to the ground.

Chloe gasped quietly at that, her eyes widening. She couldn't even imagine how horrible that would have been. Bart was always the goofy, light-hearted one of the team. Swallowing hard, she placed her hand on his arm, "I'm sorry."

He nodded, not looking up at her. "Six months ago," he murmured.

"Were you there when it happened?" She asked quietly. He hadn't told her about anyone's deaths yet and although she didn't want to hear about it, he needed to let it out.

"Yes," he whispered. "We were on a food run. He died...saving my life."

Her stomach turned slightly at that. It sounded like Bart, "I'm so sorry..." she didn't know what else to say to him. "I'm sorry you lost so many people because of this."

Oliver shut his eyes. "I know. But it's not your fault." He shook his head a little. "I shouldn't have insisted on going out there with him."

"It's not yours either," she squeezed his arm gently, "and he would be so mad at you if you blame yourself."

He drew in a shaky breath at that, blinking back the hot tears that stung his eyes. "Yeah. I know he would," he admitted, his chest tight. "You--uh...the other Chloe...she said the same thing."

Chloe's chest tightened at the expression on his face, but she offered him a sad smile, "then you know we're right."

He nodded quickly, forcing himself to take a deep breath. "Are you hungry?" he asked quietly. "I can go grab some cereal or pop-tarts."

"Yeah," she whispered, "but I can go get it."

"Are you sure? It's no trouble."

"Yeah," she took a deep breath, "you've been doing a lot for me, let me do something." As insignificant as it was.

"I didn't figure you'd let me continue much longer," he admitted.

Chloe smiled a little at that, "I guess you do know me well enough." She said quietly, "any preferences on breakfast?" Because while he had spent enough time together with the other Chloe, she hadn't spent nearly as much time with him.

He shook his head. "Not really hungry, but thank you."

She frowned a little and watched him for a moment, "are you sure?" They hadn't eaten anything in a while. She had no clue how many hours..

"I'm sure," he said, nodding a little.

Nodding slightly, she watched him for a moment then made her way over to the door and out of the room. She was very worried about him still, there hadn't been much improvement in the time she'd been there and she really wanted to make sure he was okay before she left.

* * *

Oliver sat with his back against the wall, legs folded in front of him as he did his best to meditate. In his mind's eye, he could see Alia pulling out her sword at the same time that Chloe reached for her Kryptonite dagger. His chest tightened painfully and his eyes flew open as he gasped for breath.

"Oliver?" Chloe called as she entered the room at the exact same time. She was dressed and since Oliver had told her to help herself for anything, she had found the other Chloe's utility belt and had it around her hips. She just hoped he'd go along with it.

He flinched a little, quickly rubbing his hands over his face as he pushed himself to his feet, his gaze immediately dropping to her belt. He swallowed hard, lifting his gaze to her face and holding his breath. For a moment it was like stepping back in time.

Chloe held her breath too at the look on his face and she pursed her lips together a little. She wanted to apologize, he was obviously surprised that she had it on, she guessed the other version of Chloe probably had it on all the time considering all the pants she'd been wearing had black stains around the same area the black belt rested. But she decided to use his shock to push him into what she came here for in the first place.

"We're going out," she said, doing her best to sound firm.

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed and he stared at her.

"We can't just stay down here, Oliver..." she told him, taking a deep breath, "the Kandorians might still be out there, but they are no worse than regular criminals. I know this is your safe place, but we need to start rebuilding. And for that, we need to find out what's out there."

It was hard for him to focus because right then she sounded so much like _his_ Chloe, looked so much like her...

 _Of course she looks like her, you moron. She_ is _Chloe._

Chloe arched her eyebrows at his silence. He was staring at her oddly, but again, she wasn't going to question that right now, "come on," she pushed, "we'll go just us two and if we think it's safe, we'll bring more people out."

"Yeah. All right, I just...I need to change clothes." He was still staring at her, his heart beating a little faster in his chest. He couldn't tell her no. He'd never been able to tell her no. Turning away from her, he moved to grab some clean clothes from the corner.

She smiled a little to herself and took a deep breath, nodding a little and turning her back to him to give him some privacy.

He changed quickly, a vague sense of deja vu washing over him. He tucked a dagger into his jeans and turned to face her once more. "I'm ready."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, "okay," she turned to face him again, "I guess we can start from whatever is up here?"

He pursed his lips. "How's your shoulder?" he asked, his gaze drifting to her arm.

"A lot better," she told him, lifting it a little and trying not to wince as it hurt a little even as she moved it.

Oliver frowned, reading the quick flicker of pain in her expression. "Liar," he said very softly, moving past her and out the door.

Chloe grinned a little and arched her eyebrows, following him, "it's _better_ , it's just not one hundred percent yet."

"Don't you think it'd be a good idea to let it get one hundred percent before you start insisting on going out?"

"There wasn't a lot of insisting involved," she pointed out, arching her eyebrows, "and I'll be fine."

A smile quirked his lips involuntarily and he glanced back at her. "I know you. If I hadn't given in, you _would_ have insisted."

"Yeah, well, I think I'm right," she pointed out, starting up the ladder on her own to prove a point.

He sighed. "You usually do," he responded, shaking his head a little.

"I keep my mouth shut if I don't think I am," Chloe pointed out, pausing at the top of the ladder to push the manhole out of the way.

Oliver raised his eyebrows and followed her up the ladder. "You should've let me go first." There was a hint of worry in his voice.

"Why?" She asked, holding her breath and reaching for a dagger on the belt before starting up to the street.

"Just in case," he answered, quickly following her out and looking around, his body tense.

Chloe arched an eyebrow at him after looking around, "see? We're fine."

"For now," he responded under his breath.

She took a deep breath and looked around for a moment, "okay, well, let's try LuthorCorp," the building was still standing, "we might be able to find a car there."

Oliver raised his eyebrows at that. "A car?"

"Yeah?" She arched her eyebrows, "you do remember what those are, right? You get in and drive it around so you don't have to _walk_ everywhere." She teased, trying to get him to relax.

He gave her a look. "That's cute. Really."

Chloe smiled at him and shrugged, "if we can get one, we can gather supplies a lot easier and we can get away from anyone who might attack us that much faster. Especially since I don't think a lot of Kandorians actually know how to drive."

He cocked his head, considering that. "And there might be people in Smallville still held captive." Nodding a little, he looked around, then held his hand out to her as he turned toward the LuthorCorp building.

She glanced down at his hand then took a deep breath and held on to it. If it would help him feel like she was safer that way she wasn't going to argue, "besides, Smallville has lakes we can actually bathe at."

He smiled a little, nodding. "That'd be nice." He guided her carefully through the streets, avoiding the debris as best he could.

"And something tells me that at smaller towns, we have a better chance of finding more supplies," she continued, keeping her eyes on their surroundings. It was still heartbreaking to see Metropolis like this, but she was trying not to think about that.

"Maybe," he agreed. He tensed a little, thinking of the Luthor mansion.

"What is it?" She asked, looking at him.

"Zod's headquarters are in Smallville," he told her, glancing down at her.

"Oh..." she murmured, looking at him for a moment as she considered, "well... if we make it to Smallville and to the Kent farm, I can look for the key to the fortress and we can try to talk to Jor-El about how to get rid of them?"

His jaw tightened and he shook his head. "There's only one way to get rid of them, Chloe. At least to guarantee they're gone for good."

Chloe held her breath at that, "but they are human now, Oliver..."

"And if they find a way to get their powers back again, they won't be." He looked up at the sky, his gaze focusing on the towers.

She glanced over at the towers too then pursed her lips together, "maybe we need to implode them."

"We're going to need explosives," he murmured.

"Is the Clocktower still up?" She asked. That's where they kept everything they'd used to blow up the 33.1 facilities anyway.

Oliver looked toward it, holding his breath for a moment. "We'll go there next."

Chloe followed his gaze, seeing it in the distance and nodded, smirking a little, "sounds like a plan."

He gave her hand a squeeze and led her to the LuthorCorp parking garage entrance, grimacing at the sight of all the burned up vehicles. "Well, that doesn't bode well, does it?"

She winced a little and shook her head, "no... not really."

Oliver led the way through the garage, checking every parking space and sighing softly. "Well, damn," he mumbled, raking a hand through his hair.

"Okay," she breathed, deflating a little. "Let's just make our way to Clocktower and maybe we'll find something on the way there."

Nodding a little, he looked back at her with a faint, sad smile. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"Don't be," she assured him, straightening up, "we'll find something."

He was silent for a few moments as they headed away from the LuthorCorp building and toward the clocktower. "This is pretty much all your worst nightmare," he murmured. "Isn't it?"

She took a deep breath and looked over at him, "I don't know if I ever imagined it'd get to this point. Although after Dark Thursday, I guess that was my mistake."

He held her gaze. "It was all of our mistakes."

Chloe searched his eyes for a moment then shook her head, "we'll fix it."

Oliver tried to smile but didn't quite manage it, glancing around warily. He didn't want to tell her that there wasn't a way to fix it. Not anymore.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later and without any threats, they made their way to Clocktower. Chloe took a deep breath as they walked inside, "right. No power. No elevators."

He gazed at her for a moment. "You could stay here if you wanted." Even if the thought made him very uneasy.

"No, I'm coming with you," she said, shaking her head a little then pausing, "maybe we should check the garage here before we go up, though?"

Oliver paused at that, blinking. "My bike," he murmured, his eyes widening a little. He took her hand, leading her down a set of steps and then pushing lightly on the wall, opening the secret garage entrance. And there it was, in the middle of the garage, unharmed. "It's in one piece."

Chloe blinked then a grin started to spread over her lips, "awesome," she told him, walking up to it, "make sure it works and even if we can't gather a lot of food with it, we can still use it to go to Smallville and we can use it to try and find a car outside of the city."

Nodding, he moved over to it, grinning as he spotted the key, right where he'd left it the last time he'd used it. He straddled the seat, turning the key and laughing when it roared to life. "Incredible."

Her face brightened at that and she nodded, "awesome," it was good to hear him laughing and she hoped this gave him some hope toward getting his normal life back, "do you wanna go upstairs now and see what we can find or start to Smallville?"

"Let's go to Smallville first." He glanced at her over his shoulder, flashing her a grin. "She's got a full tank."

"Oh it's a _she_?" Chloe smirked then nodded a little, "okay, probably a better idea to go there before pissing them off anyway."

"Plus we're going to need help to set off the explosives."

"True," she nodded a little, Bart had always been the one to set them since he could get out of there faster than anyone else. She took a deep breath "let's go, then. How do we open this?" She asked, nodding at the garage door.

"Right." He shut the bike off and moved over to the door, leaning down and then rolling the door up manually. He moved over and picked up two helmets from the shelf, handing one to her.

Chloe took the helmet and slid it on, buckling it in place then waiting for him to get on the bike before doing the same.

"Chloe Sullivan, biker babe," he murmured, grinning as he slid his own helmet on and climbed onto the bike.

She grinned a little and rolled her eyes, "I think I've only ever been on a scooter before," she said as she climbed behind him, hesitating before holding on to his sides awkwardly.

"You're going to want to hold on tighter than that," he warned, reaching down and taking her good arm gently in his hand and tugging it around his waist.

With a deep breath, she shifted closer to him on the bike and wrapped both arms around him, "good enough for you?"

"Is it putting any strain on your shoulder?" he asked, his breath catching at the familiarity of her closeness.

"No," she told him, sincerely this time, "I'm okay."

"All right." He started the engine once more, feeling the bike's power humming through him. "Just hold on." He pulled out of the garage a second later.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded slightly, tightening her hold on him just slightly.

A small smile touched his mouth as they roared out onto the road.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe held her breath as they drove past the 'welcome to Smallville' sign, which had been burned with the same symbol Oliver had on his back. Her stomach turned at that and she tightened her hold on him even more. "Do you want to try the farm?" She suggested.

"Might as well." He nodded a little even as he slowed his speed to obey the speed limit. Not that it mattered. No one would be pulling him over. No one would be left alive _to_ pull him over.

She sat up slightly and nodded, looking down toward the farm as they neared the dirt road. It looked like it was still standing.

He steered the bike down the long dirt road, slowing down even more. His body was tense as he stopped the bike in front of the house, glancing toward the barn. Everything was eerily still, silent.

Chloe felt a chill down her spine too as they pulled over. She couldn't help but wonder where Clark was and if her cousin and Mrs. Kent were still alive out there, somewhere. Silently, she climbed off of the bike slowly.

He did the same, pocketing the key and sliding his helmet off, his jaw tight as he removed the dagger from his belt. He glanced around, his eyes scanning the horizon for any signs of trouble.

With a deep breath, Chloe hung her helmet from the bike's handle and picked up a dagger from her own belt as well then glanced at Oliver.

He raised his eyebrows a little, then slowly headed toward the porch, taking the steps two at a time and peering inside the screen door. He listened for a long moment. "Everything's silent."

"Clark?" Chloe called, not raising her voice too much as she walked up to the door with him.

Oliver grimaced involuntarily, opening the door and stepping inside without waiting for a response. Still, the house remained quiet. He glanced toward the stairs, then toward the kitchen, his steps slow and cautious as he approached, freezing in place for a moment, then turning toward her, shaking his head. "No one's here. Let's check the barn."

With a deep breath, she relaxed a little then nodded at him, "yeah."

He made sure he was blocking her view of the kitchen before she turned around, and he gently rested a hand on her back, guiding her back out of the house. There was no reason they both needed to see the body inside the house.

Chloe stepped outside quietly and started toward the barn, looking around at the fields, no cows or chickens in sight. It made sense, without anyone around to feed them. But it was still eerie.

He wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved that the barn appeared to be abandoned. Either the humans inside had escaped, or they'd been killed and buried somewhere.

She frowned when she looked around the barn. It was definitely different and she could tell at once what it'd been used for, "they were keeping people _here_?"

"Yes," he said quietly, glancing at her sideways, hand still resting on her back. He blinked in surprise when he heard a bark off in the distance and he raised his eyebrows.

Her eyes widened when she heard them too and she glanced at Oliver then started toward the barks, "Shelby?" She called, "Shelby!" She tried again as the barks turned into whines.

He followed Chloe through the barn, spotting the dog tied to one of the wooden posts inside. He quickly made his way over to the rope, untying the golden retriever and holding his breath as the dog bounded free and jumped up on Chloe, licking at her face.

She grinned softly and leaned down a little, wrapping her arms around him as she tried to pull away from his licks, "it's good to see you too."

Shelby barked again, his tail wagging back and forth rapidly.

A small smile touched Oliver's mouth at the genuine happiness on Chloe's face. His chest felt warm all of a sudden, and as much as he'd been wishing she'd give up on finding a way to get back to her own time, he knew it was selfish. She couldn't be happy here. No one could be happy here. Especially not someone like Chloe. She deserved so much more. So much better.

And come hell or high water, he'd find a way to make sure that happened.

They looked around the barn for a moment and once they made their way outside the back side of it, there was another surprise waiting for them: Clark's red truck, in one piece, keys and everything. That would make taking Shelby back with them a lot easier and they could even fit Oliver's bike in the back. Things were _definitely_ improving.

"Okay," Chloe said, still beaming as she climbed out of the truck, where she'd been to make sure the engine was still running. "Why don't you stay here with Shelby and I'll go inside and see if I can find any supplies we may need."

"No!" He said quickly, scrambling out of the truck as well. He blocked her path. "We'll go the general store on Main. They probably have stuff there."

She blinked a couple of times and stared up at him, "we're already here, we might as well check it."

"No," he said again, shaking his head as he met her eyes. "We can't go back in there."

Chloe held his gaze, her stomach clenching at his expression, "what's in there?"

"Chloe, just trust me. Please," he whispered.

She shook her head a little, "I do..." pursing her lips, she looked at him, "who is it?"

"I don't know," he murmured, looking down. "A blond woman."

Chloe almost sighed in relief, "not Lois? Or Clark?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "But it's gruesome."

She took a deep breath and nodded slightly, rubbing a hand over her face, "okay," she agreed quietly, "I'm sorry you had to see it."

"I've seen worse," he murmured.

"I'm sorry," she told him sincerely. Normally, she'd suck it up and go in, but she still had nightmares about Jimmy and Davis, so she really didn't want to risk it. "We should go."

Nodding without hesitation, he moved over to the truck once more, opening the passenger side door for her wordlessly.

She climbed inside, Shelby jumping up into the seat too. Chloe smiled a little and wrapped her arm around the dog, pulling him closer then nodding at Oliver so he could close the door.

He closed the door quietly and moved around to the driver's side, climbing up quickly and glancing at them sideways. He hesitantly reached out and patted Shelby's head.

Shelby shifted and laid down across her lap so he'd be closer and Chloe smiled softly as he turned his head and started licking Oliver's hand. "He missed you too."

Oliver drew in a breath, meeting her eyes for a brief moment as his chest tightened. "He barely knew me. But he's obviously thrilled to see you." He smiled a little.

"It will be good to have him around," she told him quietly, rubbing behind Shelby's ear as she glanced at the dog before looking at Oliver again.

"Are you sure you don't want to look around the barn for the ring anymore?" he asked quietly.

"I didn't see it anywhere," she sighed softly, "and if the Kandorians had the place, I doubt it would still be there. Maybe we can try the Talon apartment."

"We'll find it." His voice was soft and he started the truck once more. "If it's out there, we'll find it."

Chloe nodded slightly then looked down at Shelby, patting him for a moment then taking a deep breath, "come with me," she said finally, her stomach clenching as she looked at him, "if we find it, come back with me."

Oliver blinked, looking over at her. "What?"

"I can't leave you here, Oliver," she said quietly, "even if you can never see your other self, we can find a place for you that will still be better than this and if this starts happening there, you can help me stop it."

He blew out a breath, rubbing a hand over his face before shifting the truck into gear. "I"ll think about it."

She took a deep breath and nodded a little, she knew it wasn't fair to all the others, but she just couldn't leave him behind.

"Ready to go pillaging?" he joked.

"Yeah," she told him, smiling a little, "hopefully we will find something."

Oliver nodded a little and started down the dirt road once more. He just hoped they didn't find _trouble_.

* * *

Within a few minutes, they drove up to the Talon, Smallville wasn't as destroyed as Metropolis. Most buildings, including the school, were still standing. She could only assume they were all taken before they had a chance to react. Sighing softly, she watched the closed businesses down Main street until they pulled up to the Talon, which, aside from the big symbol burned in the front door, looked exactly the same.

"It so weird," she murmured, "seeing Smallville like this."

"I know," he said quietly, hesitantly reaching out and resting his hand on her arm. He gave it a gentle squeeze and then pulled into one of the parking places in front of the Talon.

Pursing her lips together, she took a deep breath and nodded a little, suddenly wishing she at least knew Lois' and her dad's whereabouts. "Let's go in."

Nodding, he patted Shelby's head lightly then climbed out of the car, his expression wary as he glanced around, not seeing signs of anyone.

"We'll be right back," she told Shelby before getting out of the car, watching as the dog curled up on the floor just as she closed the door. With a deep breath, she picked up a dagger and looked over at Oliver, holding her breath.

"Seems quiet," he murmured.

"Yeah," she told him quietly, keeping her eyes on the building, "let's go in." She told him, starting toward the door.

And that's when he heard it, off to the right, from the alley. He tensed immediately, his head whipping over to stare, his heart pounding heavily in his chest as he found himself looking right at Alia.

Chloe stilled when Oliver did and at first, she didn't see the woman, but she heard the sound of long and sharp blades as she pulled them from her sides.

"Took you long enough to show up here," Alia said through her teeth.

His jaw tightened, his gaze darting quickly between Alia and Chloe, calculating the distance between them. "Been hiding out all this time, you cowardly _bitch_?"

"Been waiting for _you_ to finish the job." Her eyes fell on Chloe, "I thought I had gotten rid of you, but I'll make sure to chop your head off this time so there are no mistakes."

Tensing, Oliver moved quickly, putting himself between the two women. "You're not so lucky anymore without that red sun of yours," he informed her darkly, pulling the blade from his belt, and gripping onto it tightly, his eyes dark.

Chloe held her breath, her eyes widening at the realization that this woman had murdered the other Chloe, which meant Oliver was not in complete control of himself. She gripped onto her own knives harder and prepared herself.

Alia lifted her sword and arched her eyebrows at him, "and without the weakness to your green blades," she smirked, getting ready to attack.

"Only to the _green_ part," he responded, a surge of hate rushing through him as he moved forward toward her.

She charged forward, aiming for his stomach.

"Oliver!" Chloe gasped, rushing forward too.

"Stay back!" he yelled, shifting so the blade hit his side instead of his gut. He reached out, grabbing hold of the woman's hair and yanking her close enough to stab his dagger into her neck.

Alia gasped, her knees giving even as she lifted her arm to try and stab him.

Chloe paused too, watching as the woman's lifeless body sunk to the floor. Her stomach turning, she looked away.

He pulled the knife back, ignoring the pain in his side as he knelt in front of her, yanking the sword from her hand and tossing it aside. "Guess _sharp_ still works since you're just a lowly human now, right?" he asked harshly.

With a deep breath, Chloe glanced at Oliver then started toward the stairs, she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. And then she stilled when she felt a strong, familiar wind.

"Oliver!" Clark gasped, his eyes down at Alia.

Oliver pulled the dagger from her neck, watching as she sank farther down onto the ground. "I wish it could have been slower," he whispered, spitting on her before rising to his feet, his side throbbing painfully.

"You _killed_ her!" He accused.

He turned toward Clark, his eyes dark. "So?" he responded flatly, moving past him.

"They are only human now, Oliver, you're a murderer." He said tightly.

Chloe had just been staring at the exchange, looking from Oliver to Clark and taking a deep breath, "Clark?" She was more than relieved to see him alive.

Oliver gave him a cold smile devoid of emotion. "Then maybe you should've let me die when I was supposed to," he whispered harshly. "And you could have saved her worthless life."

Clark's jaw clenched at Oliver and then he looked at Chloe, feeling guilty instantly.

Frowning in confusion, Chloe looked back at Oliver then stilled when she noticed the rip on his shirt and blood flowing from his side, "Oliver? You're hurt." She gasped, quickly making her way to him.

"I'm all right," he said quietly, his expression and voice softening as she drew closer. "It's nothing too serious." He glared at Clark once more.

"We should get you upstairs so I can--" Chloe paused at the strong wind once more, blinking to find both Clark and the woman's body gone.

He let out a shuddering breath, leaning heavily against the trunk. He wasn't sure he would make it up stairs anytime soon. He looked up at her and offered her a barely-there smile. "I'm sorry you saw that," he whispered.

Her stomach clenched and she shook her head, opening the door, "get inside, lay down, I'll look upstairs and see what I can find."

"Maybe there's some canned food up there. And maybe some of your other clothes." He exhaled slowly, pressing a hand to his side and climbing up into the truck, wincing involuntarily as he stretched out on the seat.

Nodding, Chloe took a deep breath, "don't move," she told him, watching him for a moment before making her way inside as quickly as she could.

He didn't think that would be a problem as he shut his eyes, feeling a little light-headed.

She came back a few minutes later, carrying two big suitcases stuffed with a lot of clothes, pillows, canned food, medicine. Luckily she seemed to have had a huge supply of shampoo and soaps, which she'd been missing horribly, but most importantly, she had a first aid kit.

He heard footsteps approaching but didn't bother trying to look up to see if it was Chloe returning or someone there to finish him off.

Chloe lifted the suitcases with some difficulty to the back of the truck then took a deep breath, walking to the front of the car, eyes widening when he didn't move, "Oliver!?"

"Still here," he told her, not opening his eyes.

She blew out a breath and nodded a little, pouring alcohol in a towel then shifting closer to him and hesitating before lifting his shirt and cleaning the wound.

He hissed involuntarily as pain flared through him, his fingers digging into the truck seats.

"Sorry," Chloe winced, eyes widening. She should have warned him, but she didn't pull the towel back, wanting to clean the wound as quickly as possible.

He bit down hard on his tongue, keeping his eyes shut tightly. "It's okay. Just not a big fan of alcohol that I can't drink," he joked.

Chloe paused at that and cocked her head slightly, "well, there's plenty of that upstairs."

He raised his eyebrows a little, lifting his head to look at her. "Lois' I presume?"

"And Jimmy's," she admitted, her stomach tightening at that but she shook it off, "do you think it would help with the pain?"

Oliver held his breath for a moment, then shook his head. "Better if I stay aware. Just in case." His voice was quiet.

With a deep breath, she nodded a little and focused on his side as she pulled back the towel, "it's long, but it doesn't seem to be deep."

He shut his eyes once more, laying his head back on the seat. "That's good," he murmured.

"I don't know if you need stitches," she admitted. She'd never stitched anyone up before but if he needed her to, she would.

"I'll be all right," he told her. "Are there any of those long bandages in there?"

"Yeah," she told him, picking it up from the kit.

"That'll be enough." He sat up slowly, grimacing.

Chloe reached for his arm and helped him up slowly, nodding at Shelby as he sat up too, alert, "we're not leaving," she told the dog.

Dizziness washed over him as he sat up the rest of the way, reaching down and picking up the Ace bandage. He winced as he shrugged out of his shirt, sighing at the blood stain. "I _liked_ that shirt."

She held her breath and tried her best not to stare at his exposed chest. He had scars all over his body, but he still looked amazing. Letting out her breath slowly, she wrapped it around his torso slowly, "let me know if it's too tight."

Oliver shut his eyes for a moment as her fingers grazed against his bare skin, licking his lips.

Chloe glanced up at him, not missing his reaction and held her breath, speeding up as she wrapped the bandage around him just so she could be done faster.

He bit back a grimace, then reached out and stilled her hand. "I've got it," he said quietly, taking over for her and looking down, finishing up the job himself and fastening the bandage in place with the metal teeth.

She blinked and stared up at him even as she pulled back, "why don't you lay back down? I'll see if there's anything else inside and I can drive us back."

"All right. I'll just...wait here," he told her, offering a faint smile.

"Okay," she told him, trying for a smile before closing the door and starting back inside the building. She came back a few minutes later and placed another bag in the back before getting on the driver's side with a blanket and a pillow, "here."

"What'd you find?" he asked curiously, leaning back in the seat and looking at her sideways.

"Canned food, some chips and cookies, some meds, pillows and clothes. Oh and shampoo," she told him, smiling a little.

Oliver smiled faintly at that. "Good job," he said with a nod. "Why don't we find one of those lakes you were talking about?"

"Are you sure you don't wanna get back and get some rest?" She asked, watching him closely with a worried frown on her face.

"I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me," he told her. "We should make the most of the gas and time we have." He looked out the windshield.

Sighing softly, she nodded and started the car again, making the way to Crater Lake, wishing he'd let her do something for him for a change.


	7. Chapter 7

Chloe parked the car not far away from the main entrance to the bunker and took a deep breath. She felt cleaner than she had since she ended up there but she was tired. And apparently she wasn't the only one.

It was almost nighttime by the time they got back to Metropolis. Shelby had passed out on the floor and Oliver, after she insisted, had laid down, halfway on her lap, with the pillow and blanket and seemed to have fallen asleep too. She really didn't want to wake him up, but she couldn't move without it. "Oliver?" She called quietly, placing her hand on his arm and looking down at him.

He sighed softly at the light touch, turning his face toward her. "Hm?"

"We're here," she told him quietly, smiling softly down at him.

A sleepy smile touched his mouth. "Oh."

Without thinking about it, she brushed her fingers over his arm, "are you comfortable here? Do you wanna stay?"

He blinked a few times slowly, then shook his head, sitting up slowly, wincing involuntarily but quickly rubbing a hand over his face. "Where are we?"

"In the garage across from the bunker," she told him, "I didn't think it would be smart to park outside of it."

"Right," he murmured, nodding a little and reaching for the door handle. "You're right."

With a deep breath, she nodded and got out of the truck too, Shelby jumping out a second later and then she stilled. Voices coming from just outside of the garage were pretty clear all of the sudden.

Startled, he looked back at her. "Get back inside," he ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Be ready to start the truck." He slowly moved toward the garage entrance.

"You're hurt!" she muttered, grabbing a hold of Shelby's collar and pulling him back toward the truck.

He relaxed a little when he saw several familiar faces gathered around. "Guys? What's going on?" he asked, shaking his head.

Chloe let out a breath too when she saw a couple of people she recognized from their hideout.

"Oh, thank God," a woman muttered, "we thought we had lost you," she looked from Oliver to Chloe, "both of you."

Oliver paused at that, glancing back at Chloe and raising his eyebrows a little. "Didn't mean to scare anyone. We left early to go on a trip to Smallville. We found a couple working vehicles and a few supplies."

A couple more people came in and some of them gasped when they saw the car, "and it works?" One of them asked. "You went all the way to Smallville?" Another one gasped.

He nodded slightly, a little unsettled by everyone's surprise and worry. "Is everything all right here?"

"It is now," the first woman said with a smile, "I think we're all just relieved you're okay."

"We'd be lost without you," an older man nodded, "well, most of us wouldn't even be here without you."

Chloe swallowed hard and tried to smile as some of the people looked at her, but she looked down instead.

His chest tightened at that and he forced a smile. "The worst is over," he said quietly. "The Kandorians don't have their powers anymore. It's time to stop living in fear, and start rebuilding what we've lost."

"And you already started for us," another man said, patting the hood of the car and smiling. "We're lucky to have leaders like you."

It was all he could to do smile faintly. "We have a new mission before rebuilding can begin. It's going to be a dangerous one." He glanced around. "We need to take out those towers so there's no chance of them ever working again."

Nodding slightly, Chloe finally lifted her head, her eyes going back to Oliver even though a lot of the eyes were on her, as if they expected her to talk.

"Tell us what to do." A bigger, younger man toward the back spoke up.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "We're going to blow them up."

"Where are we going to find explosives?" Someone asked.

"We have a location for some of them," Chloe told them, with a lot of eyes on her, she felt like she should speak up. They still obviously thought she was the other Chloe and considering everything those people lost and everything they'd been through, she couldn't even consider telling them the truth.

"We just need to retrieve the explosives and then get them into place and get out fast enough so no one gets hurt."

"When are we doing this?" The first woman asked.

"Tomorrow morning," he said, glancing back at Chloe, and then looking at everyone else once more. "So get plenty of rest tonight."

Chloe nodded a little as eyes felt on her once more, "we managed to find some food back in Smallville, but as soon as we get more cars, it should be easy enough to gather supplies." Although she felt weird talking to all of them like that and being heard, it didn't feel completely out of place.

"What do we do about the Kandorians if we see them?" one of the men asked uncertainly.

Oliver's jaw tightened ever-so-slightly and he fell silent for a long moment. "I guess that's something we need to discuss as a group."

Chloe took a deep breath and glanced at Oliver, "I think it depends on the situation and how much of a threat they seem to be." She didn't want those people just murdering people for no reason, "without their powers, there's no certain way to tell them from humans."

He didn't look back at her, but nodded slightly.

"We'll discuss this after the towers are down." She suggested when she got weird looks from most of the people, but kept her voice firm.

With a couple of 'good to see you's and 'glad you're alive's they started making their way out of the garage.

He blew out a breath, not turning around. "Well that was unexpected," he murmured.

She took a deep breath too and looked down once more, "I hope you don't mind I..." she lowered her voice, "pretended to be her."

"Chloe." His voice was soft. "You _are_ her."

"No," she said quickly, lifting her head, "I'm not. I didn't do all the things she did for these people and I don't want to take credit for it." Chloe paused and sighed, "I just didn't want you to have to explain."

He turned to face her. "You may not have all the experiences that she had, but you're still Chloe Sullivan. Everything that happened, everything that..." He exhaled. "It's still who you are. Even if you don't realize it."

She stared at him, her eyes tearing up slightly and she shook her head slightly, "Oliver." She said quietly, taking a deep breath, "I can't accept any of that or any of the credit or become who she was because I can't _stay_. I don't belong here." And after seeing how much those people relied on him, she knew she couldn't bring him with her when she found a way out.

Oliver held his breath for a moment. "I know that," he said just as quietly. "And that's why we have to get you back where you _do_ belong."

Nodding slightly, she took a deep breath and straightened, reaching to the back of the truck and picking up one of the suitcases, "we should get some rest, get ready for tomorrow."

"Yeah, about that." He moved to the truck, as well, grabbing one of the bags. "You're not coming."

"What?" She frowned, stilling and turning to look at him, "what do you mean I'm not coming? Like hell I'm not."

"I'm not risking your life, Chloe," he said, picking up the bag and heading toward the garage's entrance.

"I have led you and the boys through these missions how many times before, Oliver?" She demanded, following him, "I _know_ what to expect. I am coming."

"Led us through them from a secure location via video feed. Not handling explosives and running for your life," he responded calmly.

"I'm going in, Oliver." She said tightly, walking up to him and setting her jaw, "I'm already here, I'm going to help."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't belong here, and you're the only hope we have of stopping all of this from ever happening. So no, you're not."

"If I'm going to stop it from happening, I'm going to need to know as much as I can," Chloe arched her eyebrows, "and from what _you_ told _me_ this was her team, not yours and I have no doubt that those people won't blink an eye if I tell them something different than what you do." She said sharply. She didn't know why it mattered so much to her, but it did.

He flinched like she'd struck him. He turned away from her and headed in the direction of the underground bunker without responding.

"Oliver, _stop_!" She called, frustrated and followed him, Shelby rushing after her.

His side throbbed painfully, but he didn't turn to look at her, simply kept going.

"Just because I refuse to take any of the credit, just because I let people die, it doesn't mean I can't try to make _something_ better!" She yelled, her jaw clenching, her eyes tearing up with anger.

He froze at that, then turned to face her. "You didn't _let_ anyone die, Chloe!" he shouted back, shaking his head.

"Yes. I did." She told him tightly, "regardless of what you say, Jimmy's death is my fault, which is why I _have_ to fix it."

He stalked over to her, dropping the bag of groceries on the ground. "You didn't kill Jimmy. Davis Bloome did. You didn't let him die, he was _murdered_. I know you like to be in control, believe me, I know it better than just about anyone. But even you can't control everything."

"I'm not trying to control anything, Oliver. I'm trying to make up for my mistakes. Maybe I didn't pull the trigger but I sure as hell pointed the gun!"

"No. You didn't. Tess Mercer did. _Again_." His voice was low.

"No." She took a deep breath, staring at him. "No. I don't care why you want me to believe in a lie, but Davis and all the lives he and Doomsday took are _my_ responsibility."

He chuckled, but it was devoid of humor. "Tess set Doomsday free, just like she did the Kandorians. Because she wanted _Clark_ to man up and face his destiny. Too bad for all of us that he never actually will."

"It doesn't _matter_ , Oliver." She said firmly, stepping closer and staring up at him, "Davis was human, _the human I was trying to save_ , someone I trusted and I put everyone's lives at risk because of him and I don't want to keep _failing_ people!"

"You _haven't_ ," he said heatedly, staring back down at her.

"Yes, I have. You've just been stuck in this hell too long to remember it." She said just as heatedly.

"And you haven't been here long enough to realize that Doomsday was barely an issue in comparison!"

"I'm _sorry_ that what I've been through isn't good enough for you." She told him tightly, her eyes tearing in anger once more as she turned around and stared back to the truck. She had no intention of being anywhere near him for the night.

"Chloe, that's not what I meant." He shut his eyes, sighing softly.

She heard him, but she didn't stop, tears running down her face. She was angry, tired and she was scared. Not that she would ever admit to him, but she was glad she at least had Shelby with her. And she was going to _prove_ to him that she could do this, even if she did it alone.

He watched her head back into the truck, then rubbed a hand over his face, slowly following her. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "That came out wrong."

"Just go." She muttered, not looking at him as she adjusted the pillow over the seat.

"You can't stay out here alone, Chloe."

"He'll bark if anyone comes near me." She argued stubbornly, biting her tongue from saying the other Chloe was already dead anyway, if she died it wouldn't make much of a difference. She was mad at him, but she didn't hate him and she knew that would be incredibly mean. "Go, Oliver."

"I watched you die." His voice was almost inaudible.

Her jaw clenched and she looked down, "I'm not her." She said quietly, glancing at where he stood next to the open truck door but not looking at his face.

"That doesn't mean I can deal with watching you die, too." He swallowed hard. "That's all I was trying to say."

Chloe took a deep breath and finally looked at him, surprised she had to look down at him because of how high up the truck was, "I'm not going to die. Why is it so hard for you to accept that I _can_ do this? That I _want_ to help? That I don't need to be carried around and treated like I'm going to break, Oliver? I know that I didn't go through nearly as much as she and you have but I'm not going to be left behind because you don't trust me."

Oliver blinked, looking up at her. "That's what you think?" He shook his head. "That I don't _trust_ you? Chloe, you're the only one I _do_ trust. And there are plenty of ways to help that don't involve explosives and flying debris."

" _How_?" She asked, frowning down at him, "by staying put?"

"No," he said softly. "By helping the rest of them realize that hiding isn't the answer. The way you did me this morning. They can't keep living like this either. And I'm not sure I have the kind of hope and determination left in me that they need right now."

Chloe stared at him for a long moment and shook her head a little, looking down at her lap, "what if something happens while you're there?"

"Then you track down Clark," he said quietly. "And try to find a way back."

Her jaw clenched and she stared at him. She wanted to tell him she couldn't lose anyone else, but considering everyone _he_ had lost, she couldn't bring herself to.

"Please come inside." He looked up at her once more.

She sighed deeply and shifted closer to him, toward the edge of the seat as she looked down at him.

Oliver held his hand out silently.

Chloe held her breath and slid her hand into his before sliding down to the ground and looking up at him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Me too," she said quietly, tightening her hold on his hand, "I just want to do as much as I can to help you while I'm here."

He met her eyes, nodding a little. "I know," he murmured. He just didn't have the heart to tell her that when she went back, none of it would matter anymore. Because everything there, everything he knew, would begin changing the second she stepped back in time. None of them would exist as they knew it.

Her chest clenched and she took a deep breath as her eyes got warm with tears, pulling her hand from his before stepping closer and wrapping her arms around him, careful with his side.

Exhaling, he wrapped his arms around her, as well, pressing a kiss to her temple without thinking about it. "It's gonna be okay," he murmured.

Chloe closed her eyes and nodded a little, feeling guilty just at the thought of leaving him eventually. "It has to be."

He gently stroked her hair, then rested his chin atop her head. "Come on."

"Yeah," she breathed, "come on, Shelb," she called, reluctantly pulling away from Oliver.

Oliver held his breath as she pulled away, then slowly headed back toward the garage entrance, leaning down and picking up the bag he'd dropped, grimacing as pain shot through him. He ignored it and rose to full height once more. It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting Chloe back where she belonged and stopping all of this from ever happening in the first place.


	8. Chapter 8

With a deep breath, Chloe stilled when the ground shook and she heard the explosion. Swallowing hard she looked around at the rest of the people who were still in the bunker with her and nodded at them. "They made it," she assured them, her hands still shaking as she shifted the crossbow she'd been handed a few minutes earlier.

"Everything is clear down here," one of the men came back, "looks like those were the only ones."

"Okay," Chloe straightened, brushing her hair from her face as she looked down at the bodies of the three Kandorians they had just murdered. They had broken into the bunker not long after Oliver left with the others and Chloe hadn't been entirely sure what was happening until they were dead but she knew two of them were dead because of her.

"Are you all right?" one of the women asked anxiously, reaching out and laying a hand on her arm.

Holding her breath, Chloe nodded slightly but didn't look at the woman. She had no idea what to do, but she knew they were all looking at her, waiting for order. "We should move them." She said finally, eyes still on the bodies as she did.

"Where?" she asked uncertainly.

Before Chloe had the chance to respond, Oliver made his way down the hall, freezing in his tracks when he saw the bodies. Fear shot through him and he moved forward quickly. "What happened?"

Chloe stilled when she heard him, she'd been hoping they could just get this over with before they got back.

"We were attacked," one of the men that had stayed told him.

"Is everyone all right?" There was a hint of alarm in his voice as he moved through the small crowd of people that had remained. His gaze fell on Chloe and he held his breath, his chest tight.

"Yeah," she answered finally, taking a deep breath and turning toward him but not looking at him, "everyone is okay."

"We got rid of them before they could hurt us." One of the women answered.

"Good," he said quietly, nodding as he moved closer. "That's good."

Chloe hesitated for a moment before finally looking at him, "did everything go okay?"

"Yeah. Towers are down. Everyone's fine." He glanced around, then back at her, resisting the urge to reach out and hug her. "Let's get rid of these bodies."

"On it," one of the men said, nodding and grabbing one of the Kandorians by his arms, dragging him away.

She started forward to help with the bodies but was more than a little relieved when a couple of the other men that had just walked in picked up the other two bodies. "We can't stay here." She said finally, glancing at the others but not at Oliver. "If they knew where we are, others might too."

He drew in a slow breath, then nodded. "Chloe's right. It's time to move."

"We need a place where we can't be taken by surprise, without as many ways in," she told them her mind racing. She had no idea what she was saying, but she was going with it.

"The clocktower," he suggested, his voice low.

"The place we went in for the explosives?" One of the men asked.

"Yes," Chloe answered, nodding her agreement as she looked at Oliver again, "that's perfect."

"There are empty apartments on every floor." He smiled a little as he gazed at her. "Plenty of room for everyone."

Nodding slightly, she looked at him for a moment but didn't smile back, "we should grab what we can and leave."

"On it," one of the women said, moving away.

He watched the rest of the crowd follow her down the corridor before shifting his gaze back to Chloe. "Are you all right?" His voice grew softer.

"Yeah," she nodded slightly, lifting a hand and rubbing it over her face, the crossbow still in her other hand, "we should go grab what we can too."

Oliver moved closer to her, reaching out and touching her cheek. "You're hurt," he murmured.

Chloe blinked a few times and looked at his hand, frowning in surprise, "I am?"

"Just...a little scratch," he murmured, his gaze flickering from her cheek to her eyes.

She held her breath as she held his gaze for a second before looking away quickly, "we should go."

"Yeah," he whispered. "Let me just put some medicine on it before we pack up." He dropped his hand from her cheek and reached down, taking her hand in his.

Letting her breath out slowly, she held on to his hand and nodded, following him down the hall and into the bedroom they'd been staying in silently. Shelby came to greet them by the door and she patted him a little then glanced at Oliver. "There are beds there, right?"

"Yeah, some. Probably not enough for everyone. We'll figure something out, though," he said, guiding her over to the bed and gently pressing down on her good shoulder until she was seated. He moved over to get the first aid kit, then carried it back to the edge of the bed, kneeling down in front of her.

Chloe frowned at him and shook her head, "you don't have to do that," she told him, her chest suddenly tight. She didn't really want to have to look at him right now.

"Yes, I do," he murmured. "It's okay, Sidekick." His voice was very soft. "I get it."

She held her breath at that and looked up at him, swallowing hard.

"It was self-defense," he whispered. "It doesn't make it any easier, but you had no choice. You were protecting people." He gently swabbed the scratch on her cheek with peroxide.

Sighing deeply, she lowered her head slightly, her gaze falling to her lap, "I didn't realize what was happening until it was done."

Oliver gently dabbed some antibiotic ointment onto the cut, then tucked some hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry."

Nodding slightly, she pursed her lips together and sat up a little more, "I know," she murmured.

He gazed up at her silently, searching her eyes.

Holding his gaze, she swallowed hard. Her eyes were a little bright with tears.

"Come here," he whispered, opening his arms to her, his own eyes sad.

She shifted to the edge of the mattress, letting out her breath as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Oliver slid his arms around her waist, gently tugging her off the bed and into his lap.

Chloe just tightened her arms around him, her chest tight as she turned her face into his neck and sat sideways on his lap. She didn't really care about how intimate it was, she just knew _he_ understood what killing someone felt like.

He closed his eyes as he sat back against the wall, holding onto her tightly as he rubbed her back. He knew there was nothing he could really say or do to make things easier for her. So he just held her close.

She didn't cry except for a couple of warm tears that stung her eyes, but she held him close, feeling heavier than she had felt since Jimmy's death. Her stomach in knots as she curled up closer to him, lifting her head slowly and pulling back enough to look at him after a long moment, "thank you."

He held her gaze, lifting his hand to her cheek silently and nodding. He leaned closer and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. "I'm here, Chloe."

Chloe leaned into his touch and lips, closing her eyes and nodding slightly as she turned her head and kissed his jaw softly because thanking him in words didn't feel like enough.

He held his breath for a moment, resisting the urge to turn his head and kiss her softly. Instead, he lifted his hand to stroke her hair.

She leaned into his hand, feeling herself relax a little as she shifted closer, her nose brushing against his cheek.

Oliver swallowed hard, his eyes drifting shut once more and turning his head, kissing her cheek lightly.

Pausing, she leaned her cheek into his lips for a second and then the sudden urge to kiss him took over her. Her mind was too blank to really consider what she was about to do and she went with her instincts like she had for most of the day already and turned her head slowly, her lips brushing against the corner of his lightly.

And then she stilled when she heard her name being called and quickly pulled away.

"Chloe? Oliver?" Someone called from outside the room, "we're ready."

He leaned his head against hers for a moment, his arms still wound around her. "We have to go," he whispered.

Her mouth suddenly felt dry but she nodded a little and reluctantly pulled away from him, her cheeks felt warm and her heart was racing as it dawned on her what had almost happened.

He swallowed hard, reluctantly letting her go, his gaze still on her face.

Once more, she couldn't look at him so she picked up a bag where she had found some clothes and threw in whatever medicine they had left, "come on, Shelby," she told the dog, patting her leg, "let's go."

"Chloe, we should talk." His voice was soft.

"We need to go," she told him, her stomach painfully tight, "we don't have time." Chloe pulled the bag over her shoulders and glanced at him then reached for the door and started down the narrow hallway. She knew it was her fault, she had initiated it and she planned on ending it. There was nothing else to do. From the first night they shared a bed, when he woke up from a dream where the other version of her hadn't been murdered, she knew that it wasn't _her_ he was staring at when he got those far away looks in his eyes, that it wasn't _her_ he wished he'd been holding and it certainly wasn't her he wanted to kiss.

She wasn't his Chloe. She had told him so herself. And she knew she could never be who she had been and that meant she could never be who he wanted. Just a weaker, more scared version of the woman he was obviously in love with.

He watched her go, then shut his eyes, sighing softly as he let his chin rest on his chest for a long moment. Then he picked up his bag and followed her wordlessly. Regardless of her arguments, they were going to have to talk.

When they got to the clocktower.

* * *

It took them a couple of hours to make it to the Clocktower and get settled. Chloe had been hoping to manage to stay in one of the guest rooms, but there wasn't enough room for everyone if she got a room to herself, besides, she had no doubt the others were already questioning her and how she was acting, she didn't need to give them more reason to.

She took as much time as she could with the others before she couldn't find anything else to keep busy with and finally had to head to the master bedroom, which she was sharing with Oliver and Shelby.

Oliver had changed into a t-shirt and a pair of jogging pants and was sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked up as she stepped into the room and he drew in a breath. "Hey."

"Hi." She told him, glancing at him then patting Shelby as he walked up to her.

He gazed at her for a long moment. "You take the bed," he said quietly. "The carpet in here is comfortable so I'll just grab a pillow and sleep on the floor."

Chloe sighed deeply and rolled her eyes, "we've been through this, Oliver. And you are hurt, you're not sleeping on the floor when you can sleep on your bed after so long."

"I'm not hurt _that_ bad," he responded. "And you're not comfortable with all of this."

"I can deal with it," she said simply, sitting down on a chair in the corner of the room and pulling her boots off.

"We need to start exploring how to get you back." His voice was quiet.

Her stomach turned and she nodded, patting Shelby as he laid her head over her knee, "I know. I'll start on it tomorrow."

"We," he said softly.

"No." She sat up and looked at him, "me. You have them to worry about and starting over. I will take care of my problem."

Oliver rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. "Chloe. None of that's going to matter."

She frowned at that and stared at him for a moment, "what are you talking about?"

"Because when you go back into time, it changes things." He gazed at her intently.

"That's the assumption," she told him then shook her head, "but none of us have ever traveled back in time to know what really happens. This isn't back to the future, Oliver. When Clark met the Legion, there was no record of me ever existing in their time."

"And when Clark insisted that the Legion not kill you, it changed things." His voice was quiet.

"We don't know." She said again. "I might go back and my future will be different, but you might still exist here."

He didn't look convinced, but he shrugged. "If you say so." He moved to the far side of the bed, taking his boots off.

"You don't know anymore than I do," she said sharply, curling up on the armchair and going back to patting Shelby.

"It doesn't matter, Chloe. Let's just forget I brought it up."

"Yeah," she said blankly, looking back at the dog, "better that way."

He sighed softly and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she answered but made no move to get on the bed too, her chest tight. She hoped he was right that once she went back, none of this would have happened and he'd have a normal life, but the thought of _this_ Oliver never existing wasn't comforting at all. Neither was the thought of leaving him.

He stared up at the ceiling blankly. "Please come over and lie down," he murmured.

She closed her eyes at his words, "I will soon."

Rubbing a hand over his face, he pushed himself up into a sitting position once more.

Chloe frowned when he sat up and sat up too, "what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna go for a walk. Get some air." He rose to his feet again, sliding his feet back into his shoes and heading for the door.

"You know it's not safe." She said firmly, standing up, "especially after the explosion."

He shrugged a little, and walked down the hallway.

"So you're just giving up now?" She demanded, following him, "it doesn't matter anymore? They might as well kill you now, right?"

"Stop being so dramatic," he grumbled. "I'll be fine."

"I'm not the one being dramatic, Oliver. You're the one who decided nothing matters and you're the one who is walking away."

"Just go get some sleep. I'll be back soon. You won't even notice I'm gone."

"Yeah." She told him, her jaw tightening, "I'm sure I won't." She said angrily then made her way back to the bedroom, her jaw clenching. If he was going to just risk himself like that, she saw no reason why she should stay put.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair, making his way down the stairs.

Chloe slipped her boots back on and buckled the belt over her waist, her jaw set as she took a deep breath and patted Shelby once more before getting out of the bedroom and starting out the back door and down the stairs too. She had obviously ruined things with Oliver and the best way to fix it was to get out of his way as quickly as possible.


	9. Chapter 9

Oliver was in the process of dividing up the people into teams to go look for Chloe when he heard light steps on the stairs. He quickly moved toward the door, his heart beating quickly in his chest as he saw her standing there, looking tense. "Chloe?"

She was covered in dust and she felt exhausted and like she had been beaten up, her muscles were sore, but she wasn't paying attention to any of that. Just the tightness of her chest and what she'd spent the night doing meant. The sun was almost up by the time she forced herself to make her way back to the Clocktower and when she noticed almost everyone downstairs, ready to go on a mission, she just felt even more guilty. "I'm okay." She lied, although physically, she was.

He stared at her for a long moment, falling silent as relieved murmurs spread throughout the group.

"Guess we can cancel the search party?" one of the women joked lightly, causing nervous chuckling to waffle through the crowd.

"Sorry I worried anyone," she said sincerely, looking at the others over Oliver's shoulder. "It's still early, you guys should go back upstairs and enjoy some more time on actual beds." She told them, trying for a smile.

Nodding, the crowd began to disperse instantly at her dismissal. After a moment, only Oliver remained. He pursed his lips, gazing at her intently. "You scared the life out of me."

Chloe swallowed hard and looked down then back at him, her heart beating fast against her chest as she held his gaze. She hesitated for just a second before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his neck as she pressed her lips to his firmly.

For a moment, he wasn't sure how to respond, but the moment passed and he pulled her closer to him, one hand going up to cup her cheek as he returned the kiss with urgency.

She kissed him back with just as much urgency, tightening her arms around his neck, tears running down her cheek as she held onto him. She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but she knew that if she didn't do this here, she would never know what it was like to kiss him and she wanted to at least have a memory of it. And kissing him _was_ amazing. Intense and passionate like a surge of electricity rushing through her.

"Chloe," he whispered against her mouth, sliding his hand up into her hair, his lips moving over hers without hesitation.

Chloe pulled back a long moment later. Her entire body suddenly felt like it was on fire, and she didn't want to let go of him, so she didn't. Sniffing quietly, she brushed her lips against his once more, "I just came back to say goodbye."

Oliver stilled at that, and he slowly pulled his head back to look at her. "Goodbye?"

She swallowed hard and reached inside her pocket as she kept her other arm around him, holding her breath as she pulled the ring from out of it and held it up to him, "I found it."

"Oh," he whispered, his chest tightening a little. "Where?"

"What was left of the Planet." She whispered to him, holding his gaze.

He nodded a little, breaking their gaze. "Oh."

Chloe took a deep breath and wrapped her fingers around the ring, "if you are right, if this won't exist anymore after I leave, then you can still come with me."

Oliver did his best to smile and shake his head a little. "No," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "If I'm right, just make sure we stop it. Don't let Tess build those towers. And uh--be sure and kick my ass into gear when you get back."

Her face fell a little but she nodded, her eyes tearing up again as she looked down then up at him, "do you think he'll ever see me the way you saw her?" She whispered, wrapping her fingers around his shirt.

He held his breath at that, searching her eyes. "He already has feelings for you. And you're the only one who can push him out of the pity-party he's throwing himself. So yes. I do."

She held his gaze, trying to believe him but not really finding herself able to. "I'll miss you." Normally, she'd never be this open, but she'd never see him again, she had to let him know now.

His chest tightened. "I love you," he whispered.

Chloe stilled at that, her eyes widening slightly and she shook her head, "you love _her_."

A sad smile touched his lips. "Be happy."

"You too," she whispered, "if you're still here, you need to move on."

That would never happen, but he didn't tell her that. There was nothing to move on _to_. He shouldn't even still be alive.

"Try," she pleaded, knowing what his silence meant.

Oliver simply nodded before leaning down and kissing her softly once more. Then he stepped back, away from her. "Good luck, Chloe." 

Chloe swallowed hard and nodded slightly, her jaw tightening as she stared up at him, her eyes tearing up again as she held her breath and shifted the ring on her hand before slowly sliding it into her finger. Her heart was racing but her chest was painfully tight. She didn't want to leave him, but while she'd searched for the ring, she'd made her mind up to leave. This wasn't about her, it had never been about her.

He shut his eyes, swallowing hard, knowing when he opened them once more, she'd be gone. Forever.

And she thought so too, except, when she opened her eyes again, she was still standing there even though the ring was firmly on her finger. Swallowing hard, she looked down at it and shifted it, pushing it down all the way, but nothing happened.

Oliver opened his eyes slowly, shocked to see her still standing there. "Chloe?" His eyebrows furrowed.

"It didn't work," she murmured, staring down at the ring, holding her breath.

He blinked a couple of times. "Is it broken?"

"I don't know..." she said quietly, pulling the ring from her finger and looking down at it.

He hesitantly stepped closer to her, looking down at it as well, but not touching it. "Is that a crack?"

She saw it the same second that he spoke, "yeah..." she sighed, pulling the ring close to her face to inspect it better. "it is..."

Oliver drew in a breath. "All right, so we go back to Smallville. And find that key for that ice castle up north."

"Assuming the fortress hasn't been destroyed." She told him quietly, looking down.

"Assuming," he echoed, sighing softly. "I'm sorry."

"Maybe," she breathed, sliding the ring back in her pocket, "or maybe I'm just supposed to stay."

"Or we're supposed to find you another way home." He was silent for a moment. "Maybe you should call Clark."

"He doesn't know I'm not the other Chloe," she told him quietly. She had seen the way Clark had looked at her, "he probably won't bother coming if I call."

"We won't know that until you try." He looked down at the ground.

With a deep breath, she nodded slightly and pursed her lips together before turning toward the door, "Clark!" She called, her voice shaking so she tried again, "CLARK!"

A second later, Clark appeared in front of them, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Oliver, his jaw tight.

Chloe held her breath at the look on Clark's face and stepped forward, "stop." She told him, "there's been enough bad things happening to everyone here for the two of you to be angry at each other."

"He's a killer, Chloe." He shifted his gaze to her.

Oliver rolled his eyes, remaining silent, but folding his arms across his chest.

" _Stop_ , Clark. He's a survivor." She corrected him, "and that's not why I called you here. I need you to take me to the fortress."

Clark's eyebrows furrowed. "The fortress?" he echoed, shaking his head.

"Yes," she told him, holding his gaze, "I need to find a way back, to stop all of this from happening." She pulled the ring from her pocket, "I tried this, but the ring has a crack on it, it's not working anymore."

His eyes widened and he reached out to take the ring from her. "The Legion ring," he murmured, staring at it.

"It's useless," she told him, glancing at Oliver over her shoulder before looking at Clark again. "You need to take me to the fortress."

"I can't," he said quietly, looking up at her once more.

"Why not?" She frowned, looking up at him too.

"Because it was destroyed," he told her, shaking his head.

Chloe paused at that, her eyes widening a little, "destroyed?" She whispered, her stomach in knots once more.

Oliver stared at him, as well. 

"Apparently they considered the possibility of time travel, too." He sighed and looked away. "There's no going back, Chloe."

She took a deep breath and nodded a little, looking down. Part of her was almost relieved that she couldn't leave, but she wasn't ready to pay attention to it, "then we have no choice but to rebuild."

"No. There _has_ to be another way," Oliver cut in, shaking his head.

"What other way?" She asked, turning to look at him, "without the ring and the fortress..."

"I don't know. We'll find one." His jaw was tense as he looked at Clark. "Find a way."

Chloe swallowed hard and stepped forward, standing between the two of them once more, "we need to work _together_ ," she knew they needed Clark's abilities and Clark couldn't do it on his own. "And we need to focus on rebuilding what we can. If we find a way back, I'll go. But until then, there isn't anything else we can do, Oliver."

His gaze shifted to her face and he stared at her for a long moment. "Things can't stay like this, Chloe. They're not _supposed_ to be this way." 

"What are you talking about?" Clark questioned.

"You don't know that," she told Oliver then took a deep breath and looked at Clark. "I'm not this Chloe..." she told him quietly, "I used the ring right after Doomsday attacked, I tried to go back in time to save Jimmy and stop Davis, but Tess shot me in the arm just as I was putting on the ring and I dropped it before I disappeared and I ended up in the future instead of in the past."

He stared at her, his eyes even wider than before. " _What?_ " 

Oliver started to say something, then shut his mouth, keeping his arms folded across his chest. "If we can send her back somehow, we can stop all of this from ever happening."

"You can't change things," Clark shook his head, looking at Chloe. "It's too dangerous."

"Whatever happens, it can't be worse than this," she pointed out, staring up at him.

"None of _this_ should ever have happened in the first place," Oliver stated, taking a step forward.

"It wouldn't have if you and Chloe had _trusted_ me," Clark told him, jaw tightening.

"Or if you had just manned up instead of being a coward like _always_ ," he said hotly, glaring at Clark.

" _Stop_ ," Chloe said sharply, staring up at both of them, "I don't care if you two never get along again, but you can't be like this. You were both heroes once and the few people that survived this will need _both_ of you to get their normal lives back. You need to let go of whatever happened and focus on helping them and making sure Zod never regains power."

"I'm sure Clark's going to be a little too busy _protecting_ the closest thing to a brother he's _ever_ had to help anyone else," Oliver said bitterly, his jaw tightening. "But you better make sure he's under close watch because if I see his face, he's dead." Without another word, he turned and headed up the stairs.

She let out her breath and glanced at Oliver as he left before turning to Clark again, "is that true?" She asked, Oliver had refused to tell her much about Clark, so she had to make sure. "Are you protecting him?"

"I'm trying to protect _everyone_. That's what I do, Chloe." He frowned a little.

"No," she shook her head a little, "not when they are unstoppable and they are destroying the planet you call home, Clark." She kept her voice low, even. "Protecting Zod, you're making the same mistake I did when I had faith in Davis and when I tried to save him. I was _wrong_ and if I had done what had to be done, Jimmy would be alive and so would all the people Doomsday hurt."

"He doesn't have powers now, Chloe," he said quietly. "I can't just let Oliver murder him."

"He will keep trying to get them back, Clark. You know he will. And if he finds a way, I doubt he will think twice before completely getting rid of all the humans that are left." She told him, holding his gaze.

"He tried to kill me, too. But I can't just let that happen. It's wrong," he told her softly.

"I know you've lived your whole life by those values, Clark," she said quietly, "but look around you, the world we grew up in is gone and he's to blame for it and him being alive could mean the complete extinction of humans."

Clark was silent for a moment. "I have the Phantom Zone crystal. I'll send him there."

"Can you open the portal without the fortress?" She asked, frowning. 

He nodded slightly, looking toward the stairs silently.

"I'll talk to him," she said quietly, lifting her hand to Clark's arm, "do you need help with Zod?"

Clark looked down at her hand, then back up at her once more, guilt in his eyes. "No," he said quietly. "I'll handle Zod. Chloe..." He hesitated a moment. "Be careful around him. He's not the guy you're used to anymore."

She took a deep breath and shook her head, "he would give his life up to save me or any of those people up there," she said firmly, "Oliver is a good guy, Clark, even if you two don't see things the same way."

He was silent for a few seconds. "He betrayed me, Chloe," he whispered. "He shot me in the back."

"I'm sure there is a lot that happened that I don't know about," she told him, "but the truth is, you two are still on the same side and you have to respect each other even if you don't trust each other."

"I'm sorry. I can't," he murmured, looking away. "Come with me." He turned to look at her once more, his eyes imploring.

"I'll help you with whatever you need," she told him quietly, her chest tightening as she shook her head, "but I can't leave them." _Him_.

Clark looked down at the floor for a moment. "All right. I'll be listening if you need anything. Don't hesitate."

"Come by if you need me," she said quietly then hesitated and stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him.

He hesitated a second, then hugged her back gently. "I will," he whispered.

"I'm really glad you're okay." She said sincerely, pulling away a moment later. 

He managed a faint smile at that. "I'll see you soon," he said quietly. And then he was gone.

Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face before turning around and starting back upstairs. She still had to convince Oliver to play nice.


	10. Chapter 10

By the time Chloe made her way upstairs, she was a little breathless and more than a little nervous. She had no idea what to do with Oliver now that the ring hadn't worked and she had kissed him... and then what he had said, even though she knew he didn't love _her_ , remembering it still made her heart skip a beat.

She had no idea how much time she'd been there, her shoulder was pretty much fully healed though so she had to guess at least a few weeks, which wasn't all that long but she had spent pretty much every second of that time with him and it scared her just how attached to him she had grown.

With a deep breath, she made her way down the hallway of the silent penthouse and opened the door to the master bedroom quietly, not surprised to find Oliver there. "Hey," she said quietly, closing the door behind her.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed farthest from the door, his back to her as he stared down at the amber-colored liquid in his glass. "Hey." He didn't look up.

She hesitated before walking around the bed and sitting next to him but keeping some distance between them, "he left to find Zod."

"Why? Is he gonna take him to the movies?" he asked bitterly, downing the rest of the drink.

"He's trapping him into the Phantom Zone," she sighed, looking over at his glass and suddenly wishing she had some of what he was drinking.

"So he says."

"I guess we'll have to take his word for it." Chloe pointed out, turning to look at him once more.

"Feel free. I'm not holding my breath," he responded, setting his glass down on the table.

"I don't know what you expect," she told him, sitting up, "but not having Zod on Earth is a good start if you ask me and yes, I do believe him."

"I'm glad you can have that kind of faith in him." Oliver rose to his feet. He never would again. He couldn't afford it.

"What _happened_ , Oliver?" She asked, looking up at him, "what made you hate each other so much?"

His jaw tightened a little as he stared out the window. "She tried to talk sense into him." His eyes were dark. "To get him to see that Zod and the others weren't here as peaceful visitors who just needed a new place to live. But he was too stupid, too _proud_ to see it. He thought he could play Earth's friendly ambassador to a bunch of killers. But he's not the one who paid the price. No, that was everyone else around him."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little. "Sounds like Clark." She said quietly, "but you said he lost his powers too, right?"

A bitter smile touched his mouth. "Yeah, after he couldn't get Zod and his people to try and blend in with the humans, he sat around and twiddled his thumbs until it was too late to stop them. Once they got their powers, he was as defenseless as the rest of us."

"And that was when he was captured, right?" She asked, watching his back.

"I guess. I don't really know. Don't really care," he said honestly.

"Did you and Chloe see him after that?" She pushed, trying to get a better idea if Clark was around when she died.

"Not for months," he told her, forcing himself to take a deep breath.

"Then what happened?" Chloe asked quietly, noticing how he tensed even more.

"Zod was going to kill him." He stared out the window. "Along with a few others at the Kent residence. We initiated a mission and saved their lives. Chloe had been working on a virus to feed into the computer that kept their towers running. We had it all planned out. We'd upload it, kill the red sun. The yellow sun would come back and so would Clark's powers." His throat burned and he longed for another drink.

"Something went wrong?" She asked, eyes narrowing a little as she stood up.

"Doesn't it always?" His voice dropped and he leaned his forehead against the cool glass.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded slightly, "what happened?"

"We weren't fast enough," he whispered, his voice becoming strained. "If I had just turned around a few seconds earlier. If I had just..." He shut his eyes.

"Don't do this," she said quietly, feeling like a hypocrite because she knew she'd been doing the same thing when it came to Jimmy. Kicking herself, blaming herself, playing what ifs in her head constantly. "She would be pissed at you if she knew you were still blaming yourself for it, and I'm getting there too. I have no doubt everyone who went into that mission knew the dangers."

"So why _her_? Why her and not me?" he asked, turning to face her, anger and pain in his eyes. "Why not _Clark?_ "

Her chest clenched at that, at the look on his face, "I don't know, Oliver..." she said quietly, "maybe in the end, the world needs you more than it did her." She believed that firmly, that they were more important than she was and she had no doubt the other Chloe had too. In fact, she wouldn't have been surprised if she had put herself in the line of danger on purpose, to make sure the two of them made it even if she didn't. Even if something went wrong.

He flinched at the words. "That's _not_ true." His voice was harsh.

"She was important to _you_ ," she whispered, lifting a hand to his chest, "but you and Clark are the heroes."

"That's _bullshit_. She's the one who put together this entire team, who led them into battle and saved all of us, Clark and me and included. I was basically facedown in a gutter until the Kandorians pulled their hostile takeover and she saved my ass. _She_ was the hero here. Not me. And not _Clark_."

"Maybe that was her job." she told him calmly, "pick you up and set you on your feet."

" _No_." He pulled away from her, moving away and raking his hands through his hair.

"I am _so_ sorry that you lost her," she told him sincerely, turning to look at his back once more, "and I know how much you're hurting, Oliver. But I am a version of her, and this is _not_ how I would want to see anyone, not because of me."

"I hate him," he whispered.

"I know," she whispered back at him, lifting her hand to his back, "but you know it's not his fault either."

"Yes, it is." He turned to look at her. "He shouldn't have saved me."

Chloe gave him a sad smile and shook her head, her chest even tighter than before as her eyes teared up, "I don't think she could deal with losing someone else that she loved," she murmured to him. She knew she couldn't.

"She was already gone," he told her.

She held her breath and rubbed her hand softly over his back, "then I should thank him for making sure you made it out of it okay."

Oliver stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "I didn't _want_ to be saved. He just couldn't leave well enough alone."

"If he hadn't saved you," she whispered, holding his gaze, "you wouldn't have found me when I got here and I doubt I would have made it very long."

His chest tightened at that and he fell silent, gazing back at her intently.

"Maybe it's selfish," she told him, her heart skipping a beat as she stepped closer to him, "but I'm glad I got to know you."

His expression softened a little at that and he swallowed hard, hesitantly reaching out to touch her cheek.

Chloe held her breath, staring up at him, her instincts telling her to pull away, but she couldn't bring herself to.

Oliver searched her eyes for a moment, then moved closer, sliding his arms around her in a tight embrace. He rested his head against hers, shutting his eyes. "I'm glad you're okay."

She wrapped her arms around him just as tightly, closing her eyes as she rested her cheek against his chest. She used to think she'd never find a hug that made her feel as safe and protected as Clark's and she knew now she'd been wrong. "I want you to be okay too."

"What if I can't be?" he murmured.

"Well," she breathed, tightening her arms around him as she pulled her head back to look at him, "it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere anytime soon. I will do everything I can to help you. I'm not good at giving up."

He drew in a shuddering breath as he looked at her. "Believe me, I know you're not," he whispered.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, "good," she murmured, "I'll do my best."

_"Just do your best," he said, handing her the compound bow._

_She looked at him and took the bow, standing the way he had told her to and relaxing her shoulders as she pulled on the arrow, eyes narrowing at the target._

_"Pull back just a little more," he murmured._

_Holding her breath, she did, glancing at him before looking at the target again._

_"Whenever you feel ready, let go." He pursed his lips, watching intently._

_Chloe focused, blocking her out the best that she could before letting go, the arrow hitting the outer ring of the target and she groaned, rolling her eyes. "This is ridiculous," she told him frustrated, holding the bow out to him. "It's a waste of time." If she had a gun, she knew she could have hit it dead in the center._

_"Since when are you a quitter?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and silently refusing the bow._

_"I'm_ not _," she told him sharply. "I'm just better with guns."_

_"Well, I don't see too many of those laying around, Chloe, so suck it up."_

_"Suck it up?" She echoed, jaw tightening, "maybe that's what I should have told you when I saved your ass from a life of slavery."_

_He bit back a smile at her annoyance, knowing he'd hit the right nerve. No way she'd be giving up now. She'd learn how to shoot if it took her all night. "Save it for next time you save my ass."_

_"Assuming I bother with it," she told him, shoving the bow against his chest stubbornly, "I need a smaller bow."_

_"Careful, Sidekick." His voice held a hint of teasing. "Don't damage the merchandise." There was a hint of mischief in his eyes._

_"I don't think sidekick is appropriate anymore," she told him, holding his gaze, "and you're already damaged goods, Arrow."_

_"Ouch," he said good-naturedly, moving away from her and setting the bow down on the floor. "That was harsh."_

_Chloe smirked a little and brushed past him, walking up to the rack of bows they had gathered and made and picking up a different one. "Suck it up, Queen."_

_"Touche." He smirked back at her, shaking his head a little at the bow she'd chosen. "No. Try this one." He picked up one of the bows he had made. With her in mind._

_She arched her eyebrows and picked it up. It was definitely lighter, so she glanced up at him then took a deep breath. Making her way back to the quiver, she picked up an arrow and resumed her position._

_"Relax your shoulders a little more."_

_Chloe shifted and took a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders for a second then tensing them up again unconsciously._

_"Here." He moved up behind her, his body curled against hers intimately as he reached around, positioning her left hand on the bow. "Take a deep breath."_

_She stilled and tensed even more, her jaw clenching as she tried to suppress a shiver, but she remained silent and took a deep breath, out of need mostly._

_"Try to relax," he murmured, sliding his other hand up and over her right one. "It's just us right now. You know I'm not going to mock you regardless of where the arrow lands."_

_Her eyes narrowed and she turned her head, looking up at him, ready to glare at him but not quite managing full effect once she realized how close to her he was._

_Oliver's gaze dropped down to meet hers and he held his breath at the intensity he found in her eyes._

_She held her breath too then turned back around and stood up straight, her back pressed against his chest, "what else?"_

_"Get quiet," he murmured, his voice lower than it had been only a moment before. "Listen to your heartbeat."_

_Chloe frowned at that but took another deep breath and tried to focus._

_A couple of silent moments passed by. "Listen closely. There, in between the beats. That's when you let go," he whispered, his fingers brushing lightly over her hand before skimming up her arm and then falling to his side._

_Even though his presence was intoxicating, she managed to focus somehow. Letting his voice guide her as she ignored his touches and the way her body was responding to them. A second later, she released the arrow and it hit the target, dead in the center._

_Oliver's eyes widened a little at that, staring at the arrow embedded in the target._

_She brightened, more than she had in a long time and turned to face him, arching her eyebrows as she dared him to say something._

_"Wow," he said after a moment, blinking and dropping his gaze to her once more, his chest tightening at the sight of the smile on her face. He couldn't help but grin back. He hadn't seen her smile like_ that _in ages. "You're a natural."_

_"I told you the bow was the problem," she pointed out, her heart skipping a beat as she stared up at him, he looked amazing when he smiled._

_He grinned a little more at that. "I think we found one that's perfect for you."_

_"Looks like it," she told him, arching her eyebrows, "I still want to try one of the crossbows though."_

_"They're easier in situations where you need to move fast," he admitted, nodding and holding her gaze._

_"They are more like a_ gun _, which is why I'm guessing you didn't want me to start with them."_

_"Beginners should always learn with a real bow first," he told her, raising his eyebrows._

_"Real bows are archaic." She told him, the hint of a smirk appearing on her lips._

_Oliver narrowed his eyes at her. "Only to those who have no appreciation for the art of archery."_

_"Or maybe some archers have no appreciation for technology."_

_His gaze swept over her seemingly of their own accord. "Oh, I appreciate technology and all its glory, but there's something to be said for starting from the basics."_

_"Basics?" Chloe shook her head, "basics is for beginners."_

_"Which you are when it comes to archery," he pointed out._

_"I'm a fast learner," she cocked her head a little, "I plan to advance faster." As she spoke, she took a half step forward to reinforce her point._

_Oliver's eyes darkened as she moved closer to him. "How much faster?" His voice held a hint of a challenge._

_"Right now." She dared._

_"Do it again with the regular bow first. By yourself." He raised his eyebrows a little, moving closer to her._

_Chloe stared up at him for a moment then turned around sharply, picking up another arrow from the quiver, "stand back."_

_He couldn't help but smirk a little, standing back as she'd commanded._

_She took a deep breath, focusing like she had before, this bow was much smaller so while she knew the range of the arrows wouldn't be as long, it made it a lot easier for her to use it properly. A second later, she released the arrow and it hit the target right next to the previous one._

_A proud smile touched his mouth and he didn't even realize it._

_Once more, she turned to face him once more and arched her eyebrows, smirking at the look on his face._

_"I should have taught you to shoot ages ago," he told her, moving over to pick up one of the crossbows they'd managed to snag from his apartment._

_"It wasn't necessary for my position," she pointed out, setting the bow down and holding out her hand._

_"Still probably would have come in handy a time or two," he pointed out, holding the bow out to her._

_"Yeah, it would have," she said, growing serious as she looked down at the bow, analyzing it for a moment before loading it._

_"Chloe?" His voice grew quiet, more serious, as well._

_She glanced over at him and arched her eyebrows. She had grown used to being quiet, before Oliver came around she didn't really talk to the others much, but he had refused to leave her alone._

_"How are you doing?" His gaze was concerned._

_Chloe gave him a look and rolled her eyes, suddenly irritated again as she walked up to the target and pulled the arrows from it, "fine."_

_"You don't have to pretend with me."_

_"There is no pretending," she said sharply, tossing the arrows back into the quiver, "you know what our reality is, you should have your answer."_

_Oliver held his breath for a moment, watching her as she moved. "Yeah. And our reality_ sucks _. A lot." His voice was quiet. "But that's not what I was talking about."_

_"There is nothing else to talk about." She aimed at the target once more, "we fight, we survive for a while, they win and we can just hope we can take as many of them with us as possible."_

_"I was talking about Jimmy."_

_Her jaw clenched and she stared at the target before shooting, all three arrows hitting close to the center, the middle one hitting the target dead in the middle once more. She turned to look at Oliver and tossed the crossbow at him, "we're done here." She said firmly before heading for the hallway._

_He caught it easily. "Chloe._ Wait. _"_

_She stopped, her expression blank once she turned to face him once more, "I'm sending Jonas, Steven and Eric. They need training."_

_"I'm not trying to upset you," he said honestly, shaking his head. "I just want you to know that you're_ not _alone." He gazed at her. "That's all."_

 _Her jaw clenched once more and she stepped forward, "And what_ you _need to know is that we don't have time to focus on weaknesses, on losses, on grief. The only thing we have left is our strength because the second there is an attack, if_ any _of us is even slightly distracted, we could all die and thinking and mourning are the things that will distract you and get you killed."_

 _Oliver stared at her. "Which is why I think we should talk about things when we're _not_ in battle. When it's just the two of us," he told her. "Because regardless of how cool you play it, I _know _you, Chloe. And you can't just turn everything off as easily as you'd like to pretend you do." He took a step toward her. "I get the act in front of everyone else. That's what they need. That's how you fight a war. But you and I...we're not at war with each other."_

_She stared up at him for a long moment, "I can't afford to be distracted."_

_"I'm not asking you to be," he said quietly, staring back at her._

_"Yes, you are, Oliver!" She said firmly, "you're asking me to focus on things that don't matter anymore, you're asking me to think about the past."_

_"The past is what made us who we are. And if we don't think about it, if we don't look at it, we'll make the same mistakes we did before." He shook his head. "I'm just asking you not to shut me out."_

_"Stop trying to get me to talk and I won't have reason to." She said stubbornly._

_"You've been shutting me out from the beginning."_

_"I've been doing what I have to."_

_"Because you don't trust me." Not that he could blame her, considering he'd turned and run like a pathetic coward when she'd needed him most. When she'd needed_ all _of them most._

 _"Because I don't trust_ myself _." She said bluntly._

_Oliver cocked his head to the side, staring at her for a moment. "I trust you."_

_"You shouldn't." She told him, her expression growing blank once more, "you of all people should know better that this isn't more than a facade, that I'm not as strong as those people out there expect me to be."_

_"Bullshit." His eyes narrowed._

_"Don't_ bother _, Oliver. You and I both know it's the truth." She said blankly._

 _He closed the distance between them, getting into her personal space once more. "_ This _is the facade, Chloe," he told her, staring at her hard. "This robotic persona. This is the fake. The Chloe Sullivan that I know--my_ friend _, is one of the strongest, most stubborn people I've ever met. It runs in her family. But you're_ not _this distant cold person you're pretending to be. You're anything but." Before she could have a chance to argue, he reached up, sliding a hand into her hair and making her look up at him before he captured her mouth in a kiss._

_Chloe's eyes had been getting teary, but the second his mouth was on hers, they widened, her heart skipping a beat as tears ran down her cheek even as she kissed him back. She had managed to fool the rest of the team, managed to fool even Clark in the brief encounter they'd had, but somehow, Oliver had seen right through her and even though it terrified her, she also felt a wave of relief washing through her as she kissed him._

_He pulled back after a long moment, his own heart pounding in his chest, and he swallowed hard as he noticed the tears. He slid an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him and gently kissing one of them away. "You brought me back, Chloe," he whispered. "I'm gonna do the same for you."_

_She kept her eyes closed, her chest painfully tight as she wrapped her arms around him, hesitantly at first and then pulling him closer too._

_When she didn't push him away, he kissed her cheek once more and slid his other arm around her as well, resting his head against hers. They would get through this. They had each other._


	11. Chapter 11

Oliver woke up hours later, his face buried in her hair, arm draped possessively around her waist. One of her legs was linked through his, and her right arm was curled against his. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts, and to recall that the woman in his arms was Chloe, but not the Chloe he was used to waking up with. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, lifting his head to gaze down at her as she slept. He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss against her temple before carefully easing away from her, trying his best not to wake her.

Chloe shifted slightly in her sleep and unconsciously tightened her arm around his, shifting back on the bed, closer to him. She was comfortable and warm and not ready to wake up just yet.

A faint smile touched his mouth at her resistance. So he laid back down, resting his head on the pillow once more and closing his eyes as he listened to the sound of her breathing.

She relaxed a little for a moment then opened her eyes slowly, shifting on the bed once again when she felt the arm and legs linked with hers.

Oliver felt her shift in his arms and he held his breath for a moment. "Morning," he whispered.

Chloe paused for a moment and held her breath too, her eyes widening and her cheeks growing warm but she didn't pull away, "morning," she answered, glancing at him over her shoulder.

He offered her a small, faint smile. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah..." she breathed, laying her head back against the pillow and swallowing hard, "you?"

He nodded a little. "Good," he murmured, gazing down at her intently.

She slowly turned her head to look back at him, shifting on the bed slightly so she was laying on her back.

He met her eyes, hesitantly lifting a hand up to cup her cheek in his palm, the tip of his thumb brushing lightly over her lower lip.

Chloe held her breath and leaned into his touch, parting her lips slightly.

Unable to resist, Oliver dipped his head, brushing his mouth over hers, a gentle caress, just barely there.

She couldn't resist it either, so she lifted her head slightly and pressed her lips to his once more. Way in the back of her head she knew this was a bad idea, but she didn't want to pull away.

When she lifted her head, his hand slid beneath it, his thumb brushing through her blond hair. He kissed her a little more firmly, his nose nudging hers a little.

She shifted again, turning a little more toward him and lifting her hand to his arm as she wrapped her lips gently around his bottom lip, wanting to deepen the kiss but not wanting to push him.

Everything about the kiss was familiar and right. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her on top of him, feel her even closer. But he didn't want to frighten her with the intensity of his feelings, either.

Chloe lifted her hand to cup his cheek, her heart beating fast against her chest but the longer the kiss went on, the calmer she felt. When they had been downstairs, she didn't think she'd ever get to kiss him again, that she'd never _feel_ like this again and because of that, she was almost relieved that she was stuck there.

He covered her hand with his own, ending the kiss a moment later and resting his forehead against hers. "Morning," he whispered again.

With a deep breath, she looked up at him, her eyes darker than normal and wider. "Hi." She murmured, suddenly afraid to find out if he knew she was her and not his Chloe.

He smiled softly, kissing her cheek. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Okay..." she said quietly, waiting for him to realize who she was and pull away, "you?"

"All right," he said just as quietly, searching her eyes. "Just wasn't sure how you were feeling after yesterday's news."

Chloe paused at that and let out her breath, closing her eyes. He did know she was herself and he was still there. "I think you took it worse than I did," she told him, looking at him once more.

"It's not because I don't want you here," he said softly, gazing at her.

"I know..." she said quietly, taking a deep breath, "but I didn't want to leave to begin with."

His eyebrows furrowed. "You didn't?"

She shook her head slightly and sighed, "not for the past couple of days."

"Why not?" he murmured, searching her eyes.

"Because I feel like I can make a difference here." And because of him. But she wasn't ready to tell him that.

"That was never a doubt for me." He smiled faintly, rubbing his thumb lightly over her cheek.

She swallowed hard and stared up at him, searching his eyes, "yeah?"

"You've always made a difference, Chloe."

Her chest tightened as she leaned into his touch, "I want to do everything I can."

Oliver nodded slightly, holding her gaze. "You will." He kissed her softly.

Chloe relaxed a little and she wrapped her arm around him, pursing her lips together, "we will."

"We," he echoed, his chest tightening a little. He rested his forehead against hers once more.

She took a deep breath and nodded, holding his gaze, "thank you," she whispered, lifting her hand to cup his cheek once more, "for letting me help."

He leaned into her touch, then turned his head and kissed her palm softly.

She watched him closely for a moment then lifted her head and kissed his cheek softly.

"It's still early," he murmured. "You know, if you want to get some more sleep."

"Maybe..." she said quietly, the thought of staying in bed for him longer sounding amazing instantly, "are you going to?"

"I'm pretty comfortable," he admitted with a soft smile, laying his head down on her pillow.

Chloe relaxed even more and nodded then smirked a little, "I guess you would be considering how long it's been since you slept on your own bed."

He grinned involuntarily. "Plus the company helps, too."

She grinned softly at that and nodded, "glad to hear it."

Oliver relaxed beside her, his hand resting lightly against her cheek.

Chloe relaxed too, taking a deep breath and looking at him. Sleeping sounded good, sleeping with him on a real bed sounded even better.

"You okay?" he murmured, moving his thumb lightly over her skin.

"Yeah," she breathed, looking up at him, "are you?"

He nodded a little, searching her eyes.

Chloe held her breath and his gaze, "are you sure you're okay with this?"

"I'm glad you're here," he said very softly. "Even though I hate it for you. Which probably makes me the most selfish guy on the planet."

She smiled a little at that and shook her head, "I want to stay, Oliver."

He kissed her softly on the corner of her mouth, sliding his arm around her waist and gently pulling her closer to him.

With a deep breath, she wrapped her arm around him and shifted closer too.

"Rest," he murmured, closing his eyes.

"You too," she sighed softly, closing her eyes too.

Within moments, he had drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Chloe felt like she had just fallen asleep when something started to nudge her out of it. She took a deep breath and shifted a little, there was a noise and suddenly Shelby was barking. She sat up a little, vision blurred with sleep, "Shelby, shh. What is it?" She asked the dog, but he continued to bark and whine as he looked at the window.

And then Chloe realized that the noise was knocking and her eyes widened when she saw Clark himself standing there, well... floating, she guessed. "Clark?"

Oliver lifted his head at the noise, his eyebrows furrowing a little. He blinked when he saw Clark there, too. "...the hell?"

Her eyes widened even more as she looked at Oliver then quickly pushed the covers aside and stood up, walking over to the window and pushing it open, "What happened?" She asked.

Clark glared in Oliver's direction then in Chloe's, "it's done."

Oliver climbed out of bed, moving to Chloe's side. "What is?" he asked distantly, his eyes narrowing.

"Zod," Clark told them, still floating outside of the window, "I sent him to the Phantom Zone."

He raised his eyebrows at that. "Did you?"

"Yes," Clark answered tightly, "and without the fortress, there is no way out to Earth."

"Good," he said simply, folding his arms across his chest.

Chloe blew out a breath and glanced at Oliver then back at Clark, "do you know how many others are out there?"

"No." He told Chloe, glancing at Oliver, "they were spread all over the world when they lost their powers, many of them died when it happened." He glanced at Oliver at that then looked down, his jaw clenching.

"Karma happens," Oliver said flatly.

She had no idea but she guessed that was something else she was missing, "thanks for letting us know," Chloe told Clark, "have you... found anyone else?"

"No." He answered, glancing at the dog, then back at her, "are you keeping him?"

"I... can?" She said, uncertainly.

Oliver glanced back at Shelby, who barked a couple of times and then laid down on the floor.

"I won't be staying at the farm," Clark told her, "I wanted to make sure he was being cared for."

"Where are you going?" Chloe asked, frowning.

"Where I'm needed." He didn't look at Oliver, he could barely look at Chloe.

"We'll take care of him," Oliver said, pursing his lips.

"Be careful," Chloe told him, looking up at him, "and you can come see Shelby when you want to, or... if you need any help." She offered.

"Goodbye, Chloe." Clark told her, staring down at her.

Oliver rolled his eyes and moved away from the window, heading for the bedroom door to give them some space.

"Bye, Clark..." she told him, holding her breath as he _flew_ away.

He rubbed his hands over his face as he made his way down the hallway silently, not noticing that Shelby was following him.

Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face then followed a moment later, "Oliver?"

"Yeah?" He glanced toward her as he started opening cabinets in the kitchen, looking for something to eat.

She arched her eyebrows when she realized Shelby was sitting right next to Oliver and watching him, "should we tell the others?"

"Tell them what?" he asked quietly. "That there's an alien out there trying to keep the bad ones in check?" He shook his head.

"No," she knew those people would never see Clark as anything other than an enemy, and she couldn't blame them, "let them know Zod is gone."

"They'll want to know how. Why. They'll want to see the body." He turned to look at her.

"Oh..." she deflated a little at that and nodded, pursing her lips together.

He offered her a small, somewhat sad smile. "We can go out sometime soon. We can tell them we ran across him, that we killed him. Destroyed the body." He knew they wouldn't question them then.

"You think that would work?" She asked, looking up at him again. Pausing when Shelby nudged Ollie's hand and whined.

Oliver looked down at the dog and patted his head gently before picking up a can of dog food off the counter and opening it. He set it on the floor before straightening and looking at Chloe once more. "Yeah, I do."

"Okay," Chloe breathed, nodding slightly and watching as Shelby devoured his food for a moment before looking at Oliver once again, "we do need to go for more food, so we can do that then."

He nodded a little, gazing at her. "Are you all right?"

With a deep breath, she nodded slightly again, "yeah just... Clark."

"He left her." His jaw tightened and he looked down at the floor.

"Who?" She frowned, arching her eyebrows a little.

"Chloe." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

"What do you mean he left her?" She asked quietly, stepping closer to him instinctively.

"After everything happened with Doomsday." He shut his eyes. "He turned his back on her. On everyone. Said that Clark Kent was dead."

"What?" Chloe frowned, shaking her head a little, "why? Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a self-centered dick," he responded, his voice a little harsher than it had been. "And so am I."

She sighed softly and shook her head, "you're not, Oliver. I don't care what happened, you're not."

"I left, too," he whispered.

Chloe looked at him for a moment then shook her head, "was this after Jimmy..." she trailed off. The memory of Jimmy and Doomsday felt so distant and although she didn't really know how much time had gone by, she had to guess she'd been there for about a month or so, so it really hadn't been long at all.

He nodded slightly, keeping his eyes shut. "It wasn't because I blamed her," he whispered. "It wasn't like that."

"Then why?" She asked quietly, keeping her voice soft and void of judgment and blame. She felt like he needed to talk about, so she would let him.

"Because it was my fault. I involved Jimmy. I shot Clark in the back with a Kryptonite arrow to keep him from stopping us from killing Davis."

She held her breath then shook her head, stepping closer to him, "no. I blame no one but myself for what happened, Oliver. Davis was... my responsibility."

Oliver opened his eyes to look at her, and shook his head slowly. "I never blamed her...I don't blame _you_ , Chloe," he whispered.

Chloe looked at him for a moment and shook her head back at him, "it doesn't matter, right?" She took a deep breath, "it's done and apparently, we can't change it."

He stepped closer to her, lifting a hand to her cheek and kissing her forehead. "So we move forward," he whispered. "Together."

She leaned into his touch and nodded a little, turning her head and kissing his cheek, "I like that plan."

"Good." He slid his other arm around her. "Because I'm afraid that you're kind of stuck with me."

She blinked a couple of times and looked up at him, swallowing hard as she lifted her arms to around his neck, her heart beating fast, "and we can rebuild, get a fresh start." She wasn't sure if she was talking about the city or about their lives, but if felt fitting for both.

"And I like _that_ plan," he whispered with a soft smile.

Chloe smiled a little and held his gaze, leaning closer and brushing her nose against his.

Without further hesitation, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the mouth. It wasn't what either of them had been expecting--that much was for sure.

But he'd take it.


End file.
